


What A Horrible Dream

by ChingKittyCat



Category: Hoshi no Kaabii | Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: 4Kids Dub, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Fights, Gen, Manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-01-03 19:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12153576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChingKittyCat/pseuds/ChingKittyCat
Summary: eNeMeE comes into possession of Kirby. He has a good idea of what to do with him.-This fic is a sibling fic toWhat A Lovely Nightmare. The two fics are published in tandem.[Fic Tag]





	1. FORTRESS Day 0

    The power stars encircled him, then shot off into the void. The space rippled like waves, light emitted from the star's energy. It turned blinding. He covered his eyes slightly, blocking out the light. As magnificent as the summoning sequence was, he didn't exactly have the most hardened eyes when it came to looking directly into bright white lights.  
    The light grew and took shape, fading to show what he had summoned. The wish granting comet known as Nova. What with all it's weird little gadgets and space trash attached onto it's big ol' cat faced body. Its big eyes slid open, looking down upon him impartially with it's fat cat-like face.  
    "Hey, Nova! It's meeee!"  
    He was delighted to see the big hunk of metal. His visits to Nova were the absolute best. Highlights of the time he was awake, honestly. Whenever he visited, he always got whatever he so desired, and all he had to do was swipe some stupid, easy to find stars.  
    "WHAT IS YOUR WISH? ...>"  
    "What, do I not get a hello?"  
    His friendly attempts at conversation were met with a lazy blink. He didn't let that get him down, though. He let nothing get him down. So, he waited expectantly, a toothy grin on his face.  
    The clock let out what was a cat equivalent of a sigh. There was nothing but tiredness in its eyes.  
    "HELLO, NIGHTMARE. ...>"  
    He 'tch'd', waggling one of his fingers as if Nova had made a mistake.  
    "eNeMeE."  
    eNeMeE corrected. Yeah, after the whole thing with his foes calling him 'Enemy', he'd decided to just adopt the name himself. He thought it sounded cool. Plus, he could spell it really weirdly so that way it also spelt out his company's acronym. He figured Nova would've heard of the name change but apparently that wasn't the case.  
    "ENEMEE. ...>"  
    Was that amusement? If he could grin farther, he would've.  
    "Now, old pal, how about you hook me up with one of those wishes, huh?"  
    He loved himself some rhetorical questions. Questions he already knew the answers to were also in there. Nightmare poked at Nova with his elbow playfully.   
    "TELL ME YOUR WISH AND I WILL GRANT IT. ...>"  
    eNeMeE was more than happy to hear that. He giggled to himself, clasping his hands together. Oh, this was going to be good. He could wish for anything. Absolutely anything his little, evil heart so desired. He could wish for Meta Knight to be in his hands right now, to squeeze the life out of that little blueberry after years of procrastination.  
    No, he was going to leave that off for later. He really wanted Meta Knight's demise to be satisfying. He couldn't just let it happen. He couldn't just squish the guy in his fingers and that be it. He wanted it to be spectacular, and maybe ironic too. That wish was out the door.  
    eNeMeE thought. Then, a marvelous idea approached him. An ironic destruction for Meta Knight, maybe something that could emotionally harm him at the same time. Oh, it was perfect. Yes, absolutely perfect.  
    "Nova, how about you teleport a little Batamon named Kirby into my hands? It's supposed to be in a ship somewhere in space, but I can never find it no matter how many dumb employees I send out to get it."  
    Like, how hard was it to find a little spaceship in the vast openness of space? He would've done it himself if he wasn't so busy giving Meta Knight PTSD-inducing nightmares and doing very, very important business deals. That and stalking around spookily around while he watched his top employees deal out monsters. Very important work. Crucial.  
    "OK. ...>"  
    "Yessssss.."  
    eNeMeE held out his metal hands expectantly. Nova began a countdown from three to one. At the end, a portal opened, depositing a yellow starship into the metal talons of the giddy sorcerer. It was pretty small, small enough to where he could hold it with one hand comfortably— not that the size really mattered since he could just shift in height at any given second. Before he could ask any more questions, Nova, in the blink of an eye, was gone. All that replaced it was the blankness of space.  
    The little ship seemed in perfect condition, untouched to the point where if it had came out of a factory just minutes ago, no one would be the wiser. What an odd looking thing it was. It was taking the whole idea of a 'starship' quite literally with its design. It even took on the same yellow color as the Star Rod once did. If eNeMeE had a spine, it would've shot some unwelcome shivers down it. So, instead, he felt the ghosts of pain prickle at his core and knuckles. It passed quickly.  
    eNeMeE squinted at the ship. It had a metal covering over what seemed to be a bubble which laid in the dead center of the ship. He was extremely tempted to just rip the covering off to see the little prize inside. Knowing of his own impatience, he vibrated before chuckling to himself.   
    "This is going to be so fun! Goodness, I can already see it now!"  
    He pictured it. The disappearance of Meta Knight's dream door, the knowing that he'd finally gotten rid of the last of his foes, acknowledging that his last moments were taken by someone he swore to protect, oh, it was honestly just too much.  
    "You are a genius, me."  
    He complimented himself, gripping moreso onto the star he held.  
    "Why thank you, me."  
    He also thanked himself. To any outside observer, this would've looked ridiculous. Out here, it was just him, a couple of planets, and this little ship he held. He was basically alone. Alone.  
    Wow, was space cold or what?   
    "Lets get you back to the fortress. We've got lots to do."  
    Passing off the ship to be in one hand, his other grabbed hold of his Dimensional Cape. A simple swish of this would send him wherever he so pleased within a distinct radius. eNeMeE felt like he was forgetting something. He squinted into the blackness, then looked around to see if it was an object.  
    Oh, yeah, that's right. He came here on a Destroya. The fortress was like, a bajillion miles away from here, he couldn't just teleport all the way. It'd take a super long time. It'd also be boring. The saucer that was right next to him the entire time waited idly. He dropped his cape.  
    "Okay, open up!"  
    He commanded the saucer. Sure enough, as he peered on the underside of it, the center of it opened up. eNeMeE just sort of haphazardly shoved the creatively designed spacecraft up there. He figured it would be fine. It closed up as soon as he did. Yeah, it'd be fine.  
    A quick shrink in size then teleport, and he was inside the bridge of the Destroya. It was circular, generally pretty wide and open. Lots of buttons and beep booping in here. eNeMeE watched as the Destroya's drivers looked from their stations to give him a quick salute before continuing their work on all those colorful buttons.  
    "How long do I have to wait for you nimrods to get this glorified frisbee moving?"  
    eNeMeE complained. One of his little employees and pilots turned to look at him. Did he just hire anything that could talk nowadays? Because, honestly, with all these freakshows around, he was starting to have a hard time differentiating monsters from employees.  
    "Sir," how respectful this pilot was, "we can start moving as soon as possible. Please make your way to the warp speed damage nullification room when you're ready to leave."  
    eNeMeE squinted at the employee. Not that they could tell since he wore some real cool glasses. He shrugged it off and exited the bridge, following the tunnels of the Destroya. The only reason why he decided to listen was because he didn't want a repeat of what happened when he wasn't in that fancy-smanchy room. It was like he was glued to the wall or something. Couldn't move at all as soon as they went 'warp speed'. Then as soon as they hit the brakes, he had smacked forward quite unceremoniously and bruised his lip on the parallel wall.  
    That bruise was nonexistent now thanks to healing magic, but the lesson wasn't.  
    As soon as he found the one very precise door in the hallway of identical doors, he opened it, then closed it behind him. The room was full of dark, black padding. A bit odd, but he wasn't going to complain too much. He liked the color black, and as he made himself comfortable, he found the padding to be surprisingly nice on his head and neck.  
    A familiar feeling of fleeting nausea hit him when he could feel himself being forced backwards into said padding. Ever so suddenly, he was once again pressed up against the wall against his own volition, and held there by the sheer force of whatever the warp drive was doing.  
  
    They'd arrived at the fortress a little bit later, much to eNeMeE's gratitude. They docked without a single problem, and gotten off of the ship without a single problem. However, there was one problem that came to light pretty quickly.  
    Apparently it wasn't exactly the best idea in the world to have just shoved the starship up into the Destroya. That center part is where all the ballistic stuff came out, so just putting Kirby's spaceship in there with no regard for anything actually in there ruined a bunch of things. eNeMeE could tell this because there was a bunch of shouting between the employees about how to fix it.  
    They knew better than to try and yell at their boss for it. Especially when their boss was him, someone who won wars by squashing his opponents like grapes in a wine press.  
    Regardless, now the problem was the fact that Kirby's ship got all tangled up in some contraption in there and could no longer get out without some degree of breaking something crucial to the ship. eNeMeE internally snickered at that idea. Breaking, destroying. He liked the sounds of it.  
    As his employees bickered amongst eachother, he reached into the mangled mess of metal that now was the interior weapon explodey part of the Destroya. He fished around a little bit before he found the starship. Yeah, it was basically like a fish in a net. Completely tangled. Except, instead of netting, it was metal beams and pipes. Warp speed sure did some magical things to things that weren't tied down.  
    Grabbing hold of one of the arms of the star, he tugged. Oh yeah, it was really stuck in there good. Tugging more, he could feel it budge slightly. The sound of metal straining against his grasp was like music. He just really needed to tug hard, he could rip it right out. Digging his fingernails into the ship once he had a better handle of it, he could hear some yelling now being directed at him.  
    He didn't really process it, willfully blocking it out. He got a good, forceful pull in. He felt the object give way, tearing metal apart as he forced it out. Nothing happened for a second, but the very next, he found he probably should've listened to whatever his employees were shouting at him about.  
    The Destroya blew up in his face. Like, straight up exploded. He didn't know why or how, it just did. The entire thing self destructed. That was a bit annoying. eNeMeE smacked onto the bay of the dock, face slightly charred from the explosion, but otherwise untouched. The ship he held had also been blackened and slightly damaged, but nothing major. The ships around the exploded one also sustained nothing but blackened marks and slight dents. His nearby employees, however?  
    "Shucks," he remarked as soon as he got up to view the damages he'd caused, "well, whatever."  
    It sorta didn't matter that he lost like, ten people to the explosion. There were basically an infinite number of bozos on this fortress who would more than happily forget whoever was just charred to ash in favor of pleasing him.  
    There were other people in the docking bay who were already calling down paramedics or whatever for those who got blasted. eNeMeE didn't need a paramedic. He was naturally gifted in the arts of healing. Which, in an event of other people being hurt, he used on himself and nobody else. After doing a quick couple of gestures, his face was no longer scorched. He internally complimented himself before looking back down at the ship.  
    The starship was still kinda tangled up, just outside of the Destroya now. It would be easier to get the metal bars and stuff off of it now. Like a kid unwrapping a birthday present, he tore at the metal bars with no remorse or slowing. He didn't even slow when he got to the shelling in the middle of the ship. He ripped it off like a sticker.  
    eNeMeE snickered to himself as he looked at what the shelling had hid. Glass, which showed the contents of the ship. The contents stirred as soon as his giggles aired. The Batamon, light pink. Kirby. Yup, it was Kirby. That was, indeed, Kirby. The glass slid back as Kirby opened its starry eyes, blinking softly to adjust to the drearily colored bay's lights.  
    "Poyo..?"  
    Kirby spoke, soft, not standing up from the little seat it had in its starship. Clearly a bit sleepy still, eNeMeE plucked the little thing out of the ship before discarding the hunk of junk to the floor. Someone would clean it up, put in storage, whatever. It wasn't going to be his problem, that was for sure. eNeMeE rolled Kirby around in his hand at the child's slight expense before stopping.   
    Though dizzy, Kirby looked up at him curiously. Those little eyes sure were beady. Soon, he'd have them narrowed at Meta Knight.. He vibrated from excitement as he took his leave from the bay, Kirby in hand.  
    He went through the halls for a bit before he remembered he could teleport. Making a conscious effort to not squish Kirby like a grape, he gripped the puff in his hand so it wouldn't be lost upon teleporting.  
    A quick swish of his cape and he was in the fortress's control room. It was generally pretty empty except for a window which looked outside towards the other metal walls (very exciting), a large number of terminals pushed up against that window, a couple of televisions and screens attached to the terminal, and a transporter on the opposite side of the window.  
    It was otherwise void of people except for that one guy who worked there. eNeMeE couldn't exactly remember his name sometimes, and that included now. It appeared he was talking to some customers at the moment, advertising some monster or another. Welp, whatever, eNeMeE didn't really care.  
    A quick press of the large 'terminate call' button on the rectangular computer was enough to turn off the screen of whoever the guy was talking to.  
    "Hey what gi-" he'd began before realizing who he was about to complain to, "oh, hello sir. What can I do for you on this fine working day?"  
    eNeMeE's response was to hurl Kirby directly at the guy, causing the business-suit clad employee to be basically hit by a large pink dodgeball and fall over. eNeMeE gave a chortle at this, even though his subservient customer service employee found it less than funny. Oh, right, that's his name. Customer Service. Good thing he remembered.  
    "Customer Service, think of this as a promotion. That little pink thing," eNeMeE gestured to Kirby, who was recovering from being thrown, "is your responsibility now. If anything happens to it, it's going to be on your head. Or, really, on your neck. Cuz if it ends up being eaten or something, you're going with it."  
    Customer Service forced a smile as he helped Kirby to its feet.  
    "Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, sir-"  
    "I mean it, Customer Service. Don't mess this up. I'm trusting you with something extremely important here, and I will lose my temper if you lose Kirby to some hungry monster."  
    "Understo-"  
    "Do not let anything hurt Kirby. Got it?"  
    That came out a bit weird. Weirder than he liked it to sound.  
    Customer Service nodded, since responding verbally ended up with him getting interrupted. eNeMeE was satisfied with this, now looking down to address Kirby instead.  
    "Kirby, welcome to the fortress. You'll be staying here for a while. A long while."  
    Kirby didn't seem too pleased at this, looking towards Customer Service for some answers before making eyecontact again with the towering sorcerer. If eNeMeE didn't already have a permanent, huge grin on his face, he would've smirked.  
    "And Customer Service here will teach you all the wonders of monsters, and how mean people are to them for just existing."  
    Kirby huddled up to the salesman at the idea of someone being mean to anyone for any reason. Or maybe Kirby was scared. As much as he liked seeing people scared of him..  
    "Then I'll teach you about the worst person in the whole galaxy, the meanest and most nasty of them all."  
    eNeMeE reached out and lightly stroked the top of Kirby's pink head. He hadn't been the most gentle thus far in regards to handling Kirby, but the gesture seemed to calm the child down. Made him less scared. The lesson wouldn't stick if Kirby were scared.   
    Children were like that, if they were scared, they were subservient, but they'd end up resenting you in their later years. eNeMeE couldn't have that. He needed a child who— he wretched internally at the concept as it had crossed him— looked up to him in a positive light. One that would side with him on any conflict as it appeared. Customer Service better do a good job at making sure that happened.  
    "Just try to make some friends while you're here, Kirby. You'll find that they're all interesting."  
    Well, he trusted his monsters and employees were interesting. eNeMeE rarely, if ever, talked to more than two people on a daily basis. He didn't even see his monsters after their creation, he just set them out to work.  
    "Poyo."  
    Kirby reached up, patting the metal finger that pet him. eNeMeE took away at that, looking back towards Customer Service.  
    "Well?"  
    He begun, impatient.  
    "What're you waiting for? Get to work."  
    With that, eNeMeE teleported off towards his own quarters. He'd just let other people deal with Kirby. He'd sure it'd turn out fine. It usually did. He had full faith in Customer Service's abilities to make people enjoy monsters, Kirby would be no different.


	2. FORTRESS Day 300

    It's always so drafty here. Like, it wasn't freezing, just really kinda generally cold. Especially moreso when Kirby explored the halls. The further out from his room he went, the colder it got. He had to go a long, long ways away before there was any major heat differences, though. He usually didn't get the chance to go out too far, since See was always calling him down for bedtime over the speakers.  
    Sometimes Kirby made it back to his room a little late, which was fine. See would just warn him to make sure to come back earlier, or ask for directions if he got lost on the way back. Kirby was always a bit hesitant to ask for directions, though. Sometimes the unfriendly stares really got to him. The stare would disappear if he looked at the person who was making it, but still.  
    See had gotten better at translating what Kirby was saying, so whenever Ma appeared, See could refer all of Kirby's activities to Ma. This included Kirby's concerns about unfriendly stares, which he distinctly remembered Ma getting pretty mad about that. Ma had told everyone stuff about Kirby, how to treat him, and the stares were apparently now in direct violation of that.  
    So, as he walked around today, he felt rather neglected. People just walked by him without a single word or glance that directly said they were looking at him. If Kirby called out to someone, not a single person would turn. The only way to get attention was to poke the person he wanted it from.  
    Kirby shivered and hugged himself as he walked. The floor, dark and metal, did not help with his chilled predicament. He could see his own breath, so he'd wandered quite a bit out. He spotted a wandering Fire Lion turning the corner. Perfect. He waddled as quickly as he possibly could up to the big cat of warmth, and it paused in its patrol to look at the boy. Kirby shivered again, holding out his stubs like he was holding them above a campfire.  
    The lion meowled— a word which described meowing and yowling at the same time that was of Kirby's own making— before continuing forward. Kirby kept close to the living torch, just following wherever it was going. Seems like it didn't mind much. Ma's creations were always so nice to him. It was the people who came from outside this home base that were the mean ones. Everything that came from Ma was good.  
    Kirby thought he was pretty good too, despite the fact that Ma didn't make him. He was good to whatever Ma made, and to strangers too! It was also a no brainer he was nice to See and to Ma. Even if See was a bit controlling and too busy to play. The few times Kirby got to see Ma personally, Kirby was a good boy. The other times Ma checked in via the televisions, Kirby was also a good boy. Interchangeably, Kirby was a good boy.  
    As Kirby wandered close to the large fire cat, he thought about Ma. Ma was just so great, so nice. Ma kept Kirby safe from the evils of the outside world who wanted to hurt Kirby and his friends; from Meta Knight. Ma knew of these dangers and in caution of it, Ma put Kirby to go train in case something ever came up. Ma made sure that if Kirby were on his own, facing Meta Knight, Kirby would be the one walking away from the fight. For those things, Kirby was eternally grateful.   
    The training was always a bit hard, but with time and dedication, Kirby had gotten with it. Kirby went from only being able to inhale things his size to things quadruple it comfortably. Not only that, but the simple suction force was a lot stronger now. He was really, really strong and Ma always told him how proud he was of the little puff's progress.  
    Kirby wanted to work to impress Ma more, to gain more praise if possible, and he was always rewarded justly with attention. He never really got any hugs from Ma, but he understood. Ma wasn't really touchy-feely like Kirby was, and Kirby could respect that. He did, however, get pats on the head and that sorta stuff. So, that was pretty nice.  
    Kirby really wanted a nice, warm hug at the moment. He looked over the Fire Lion again. It wasn't currently flaming its entire body, so it would be safe to touch. However, all he could reach comfortably were the lion's legs, and he didn't want to impede that cat's walk. So, rather than go and hug the legs, Kirby got a little bit of a run going before he propelled himself up onto the lion's back.  
    It startled for a second before looking back at what was now on them. It chuffed before continuing forward. Kirby pushed his face into the orange fur in a quite undignified way. So warm..  
    Kirby just stayed there for who knows how long. This Fire Lion was warm and was letting him hug it, so he was going to stay there for as long as he possibly could. Almost made him wanna take a nap. In fact, Kirby was on his way to do so when Fire Lion's tail brushed at him. Slightly ticklish, Kirby giggled and snapped out of his nap conquest.  
    The lion chuffed again as Kirby sat up, a little drowsy. He looked around. Fire Lion had delivered Kirby back to the Command Center's elevator. Kirby frowned a little from all his exploration progress being reset, but he appreciated the gesture. Maybe See wasn't busy and could play?  
    Kirby slowly moved from Fire Lion's back like he were trying to dismount a horse. He failed and plopped onto his butt. The cat brushed his face with its nose, making sure he was okay. Kirby smiled, poyoing as he petting the snout with his stubs for a moment in gratitude. After he stopped, the cat turned from him and walked off to continue its patrol. Kirby made sure to wave goodbye.  
    Okay. Elevator time. Kirby jumped to reach the call button. He missed. This repeated several times before he finally managed to hit it. He really wished he was a bit taller. He also wished he had legs, but he couldn't always get what he wanted.  
    When the elevator arrived, Kirby waddled in, then re-initiated the process of jumping up to hit the buttons on the inside of the contraption. Took him a minute or so, but he did it. He was quite proud. Soon enough, the elevator was moving up to the metaphorical heart of the fortress.  
    Kirby swayed front and back on his nonexistant toes as he waited. Was he impatient? Maybe a little.  
    As soon as those doors clicked open, Kirby gave a quick look before running into the room. See was talking to someone on the monitors, but Kirby didn't really analyze what he was saying or what the conversation was about before he literally tossed himself at the guy.  
    See wheezed a bit from shock and possible exasperation as Kirby hug-tackled him, stumbling and nearly falling over too. Kirby poyoed at him before he could really recover. Grabbing Kirby from both sides, See ripped the puff off of him out of some strange fear. Realizing who Kirby was, See calmed down significantly. The blue-purple clad friend turned his attention back to the monitor, the shock being replaced by his usual smile.  
    "Hey, what's that there pink thing?"  
    The screen questioned. Pink thing? Oh, they must be talking about him. Kirby looked at the screen's projection. On it, he saw a bird sitting in some weird throne with a purple and green thing standing next to it. The two seemed to be in some stone place, and it all looked quite royal.  
    "Oh, this? This is Kirby, Triple D."  
    See introduced the puff before putting him back down.  
    "What's he do?"  
    "I'm afraid he's not for sale, sire."  
    "Hey! Now listen here, bozo! I'm the customer, you supposed to be listenin' to me! Tell me what he does!"  
    Oh geez, this bird doesn't sound very friendly. Kirby placed his numbs on the terminal-desk hybrid to peer at the screen. He couldn't see whilst he was on the floor.  
    "I could get in a lot of trouble with my superior-"  
    "I ain't even talking about buyin him! Just tell me what he does!"  
    See's smile stayed on despite the fact he was being bossed around by someone so rude and loud. Kirby wondered how he managed to do it.  
    "Well, Kirby has the ability to transform into things he inhales. For example, if he sucks up a rock, he becomes Rock Kirby. If he sucks up a sword, he becomes Sword Kirby. His inhalation abilities allow him to consume things nearly four times his size with no issue."  
    "Hey, now that sounds strong! How much is he?"  
    Didn't See just say Kirby wasn't for sale?  
    "Sire, he's priceless. I cannot sell him. I'm not allowed to."  
    "So he's free then?"  
    "Wh-"  
    "Ya said he's priceless! That means he's free, don't it?"  
    The purple thing on the screen groaned at that, but didn't speak up. Kirby waved to the customers, unsure of what else to do.  
    "Send him over, I wanna see what he can do for myself!"  
    Kirby saw See's smile twitch at what the blue bird was saying.  
    "Go to your boss and tell him I want that there Kirbeh!"  
    "Yes, of course. Give me a minute, then."  
    See pressed a button on the terminal and the screen turned into the company's logo. The smile finally dropped. See huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.   
    See waddled off to another terminal, pressing the buttons at what Kirby thought was random. A screen flipped up from a slot in the terminal, then flicked on. Ma was on the screen!  
    "Ma! Ma!!"  
    Kirby called and scrabbled up to the screen. He pressed mutliple buttons along the way, and See had to hurridely take him off of the desktop of buttons before he could do much more. See held the pink puff under his arm whilst said pink puff squirmed around in it.  
    "Hi Kirby."  
    Ma greeted. Kirby wiggled his stubs and poyoed, wanting to go poke at the screen.  
    "Alright, what's the problem?"  
    Ma continued.  
    "A customer wants to purchase Kirby after he tackled me in the middle of a sales pitch."  
    "Tell them no, then."  
    "I did and I told them you'd be mad if I sold him."  
    "Okay, who're these nimrods who aren't phased by me being mad? I should just go tell some Destroya pilots to go blow them up or something."  
    "King Dedede of Popstar."  
    "Popstar?"  
    "Yes."  
    Ma's smile suddenly became slightly smaller upon hearing the location. He only did that when he was deep in thought, which wasn't very often, as Kirby found. An awkward silence brewed as Ma was busy thinking.  
    "Uhh.. Okay, hm.." Ma hummed. "You said he wants to buy Kirby."  
    "Yes, sir."  
    "..I dunno.. Um.."  
    Kirby stopped wiggling.  
    "What's happened to the monsters that have been sent there?"  
    "Destroyed by the king's own knights, he's told me about that a lot."  
    Kirby gulped at that. Friends being destroyed.. Like, gone forever. Who would do such a thing? Such awful knights!  
    "Yeah, that's what I thought. Hmm.. I.."  
    Ma went silent, making it awkward in the room once more.  
    "Alright uh. Yeah, let's send him over. But if he isn't back in a couple days, I want Destroyas over there."  
    Wait, Kirby was actually going? What?  
    "Put Kirby down for a second, Customer Service."  
    See did as he was told, and Kirby was back on the floor. Kirby couldn't see if he was on the floor! How difficult was this to realize?? The pink puff worked his way onto the terminal, standing on some buttons in the process. They probably didn't do anything, since See wasn't trying to get him off of them.  
    "Ma?"  
    "Kirby."  
    Ma seemed a little bit remorseful.  
    "See is going to send you on a field trip, okay? You're going to Popstar. Do you know who lives there?"  
    Kirby shook his head, slowly.  
    "Meta Knight and his minions."  
    Kirby's eyes widened in horror and lowkey malice at the name.   
    "He's been hiding out there for a long time now. We've been sending people to go deal with him, but, well.. They've never returned."  
    The horror was all gone now. Now it was just hatred. Ma told him how bad Meta Knight was back during the war, but to know that Meta Knight was still doing these awful things to Kirby's friends in the present day? Meta Knight probably would've attacked the friendly Fire Lion that brought Kirby to the Command Center, too! It made Kirby as mad as a toddler could possibly be. Which, in this special case, was pretty frickin mad.  
    "After seeing how you've come along.. Strong, capable, I think you might be the one to finally do in the nare-do-well for good. He'll probably try to trick you by saying some lies, so don't listen to anything he says."  
    Meta Knight made Ma suffer. He'd made  _Ma_ suffer. Moreso, he'd destroyed Kirby's friends with no remorse. Meta Knight was a guiltless, horrid beast. He needed to pay for his crimes. Kirby needed to avenge all who'd fallen to the knight's blade.  
    Kirby nodded, determined.  
    "Love Ma, poyo."  
    "L-Love you too, Kirby."  
    He'd rid the galaxy of this plague of evil that was Meta Knight.


	3. Day 0

    Through the electronic system, Kirby flew, landing at his destination within seconds of being beamed from the fortress. From blinding lights, he closed his eyes before quickly opening them once more. Gaining his bearings, he looked around the throne room.   
    Sandstone walls, yellow, with See being projected onto a monitor facing towards a little seat which held a fat guy. Next to the fat guy was a purple dude. The fat dude was blue, but regardless of the color, he wasn't who Kirby was going after.   
    "He done did seem lil bigger on that there screen."  
    "It's always bigger and better on television, sire."  
    Kirby blinked and cocked his head at the bit of dialogue, looking moreso towards See. See gave Kirby this very truthful, almost concerned looking smile before the display turned off, and the television folded back into the wall.   
    Kirby jumped from the transporter and dashed out the throne room's door.  
    "Ey, where he goin!? Get back 'ere, I'm the king and you be answerin' to me before you dashin off!"  
    Kirby disregarded the command. Why would he listen to the enemy, afterall? Even if they were the ones who wanted him around in the first place, if they stayed around Meta Knight, they were evil. No doubt. Kirby didn't have the time of day to listen to evil people.  
    The two followed him at first, but Kirby quickly lost them. They didn't seem like the most fit people in the world anyways.  
    As Kirby looked around the castle, he found the layout to be simplistic. It was all hallways and stuff, just like back home. Kept it familiar. He'd surely have no trouble finding his way around here. It'd be pretty easy to navigate once he'd eventually got the job done. Then he could go back to the transporter, go home, and tell Ma the good news!  
    The idea licked at his insides, making him feel tingly and excited. Ma would be so proud of him, then!  
    But then the whole gravity of the situation smashed back down onto Kirby, and the feeling faded. Replaced with coldness and bitterness. Kirby was angry again. Meta Knight, that evil, evil, beast had to be removed. This isn't a time for smiles, this is very serious!  
    It took a while, some backtracking, but eventually..  
    "Kirby..?"  
    A voice perked from down the hall, bewildered. Kirby instantly shot his attention down the hallway. Sure enough, in the middle of it, was this man. Blue, round, and covered in a dark cape. Wearing a mask. The exact description of Meta Knight. This, this was Meta Knight. Kirby's eyes narrowed, thinking of all the atrocities this man had committed. How much grief he'd given Ma. See. Everyone.  
    "I see you've finally arrived."  
    Meta Knight's bewilderment grew smaller. So, he knew Kirby was here to destroy him. Meta Knight walked towards Kirby, slow. Almost like he didn't expect an attack to be coming. Or it was a taunt. Yes, it was a taunt. Kirby was being taunted with a calm demeanor. Well, Kirby, personally, was not going to take being taunted like this lightly.  
    Kirby's mouth opened, and he turned down the hallway. A whirlwind formed instantaneously, so powerful that the knight slipped off his feet with a shocked noise. He clattered to the ground, quickly losing the ground he had between himself and the end. The knight grasped onto the sandstone floor with white gloves, holding tight as his cape fluttered loudly in the wind.  
    Loose bricks from the walls flew into Kirby's mouth, stuffing him. When the inhale was stopped by all the bricks, Meta Knight got up and ran. Ohohoho no, he wasn't getting away that easily!   
    Kirby shot all the bricks back in a barrage down the hallway, hitting the knight's back more than once. One time, there was even a nice, satisfying 'crack' sound which was accompanied by a decently volumed cry of pain. Meta Knight, however, did not stop running. Kirby's eyes narrowed more as he gave chase. Meta Knight was a bit faster, but not by much. Kirby could keep up, at least.  
    As soon as the knight turned a corner, Kirby would turn it the next second. Before Meta Knight could get behind any form of cover, Kirby would start inhaling. Unfortunately for Kirby, it appeared as if the knight had a very good grip and the bricks that made up the floor weren't the sort of ones that gave way like the walls did.  
    "Kirby, what is wrong!?"  
    Meta Knight shouted over the winds, gripping hard on the floor. Kirby, of course, provided no answer because he was trying to inhale the other. He kinda wasn't in the position to be answering anything.  
    "Why are you doing this?!"  
    Again, busy trying to end this guy. Not in any position for queries.   
    Of course, as soon as his face had been stuffed with the castle's stones and he spat them back out, he was also in no position to say. Nor was he when he was chasing Meta Knight down the halls like a hunter after some game.  
    Kirby didn't expect for others to join, but sure enough, two more warriors joined the field. Apparently using the equivalent to a small tornado (in all ways) to inhale opponents wasn't the most efficient way to not draw attention to oneself. Knights, green in their armor, had showed up on the scene after two or so minutes of this.   
    One of them tried to bat Kirby with his sword, but Kirby was much too quick for that. Kirby, using his only ability, inhaled the two of them. They were a lot less strong than Meta Knight, quickly flying into the pink puff's mouth.  
    "SWORD!! BLADE!!"  
    Meta Knight cried from down the hall, having stopped his retreat to turn. Clearly in despair and knowing of what Kirby could possibly do if he actually swallowed the two. Sword and Blade.. Kirby'd never heard of them, so clearly they were innocent in some form. Evil, yes, but not as offending as Meta Knight was. No, not at all.  
    So, he launched Sword and Blade from his mouth like projectiles, their high speeds making it so Meta Knight had no option but to be smashed under the two's weights. This would definetly give Kirby some time, as the blue orb was now pinned under these two buffoons. Kirby made his approach swiftly, but Meta Knight made a fairly miraculous recovery. He shoved the other two off of him and off to the side before continuing to run.  
    Kirby had no mind to pay towards the two, so long as they just continued to stay out of it, so Kirby kept at it. He kept at the chase.  
    The pink puff was very, very diligent. He was also hard to exhaust— Ma's training had made more than sure of that. It took over thirty minutes of a nonstop chase and attacks to actually exhaust him. This, now this, this was the time where he was more willing to do an question panel. Through wheezes and pants, his attacks were still just as powerful, just more shortlived.  
    "Kirby," Meta Knight spoke as Kirby's attack faded into exhausted coughs, "why are you doing this?"  
    "Youh.. E..Evhul.. P-Poyo.."  
    Kirby, taking a large breath, was bound to start inhaling again, but Meta Knight quickly took up and ran behind a wall. A breath out before Kirby followed. Man, who thought trying to get rid of the evil blue orb would be this much of an outing? Kirby was pretty good at fighting too..  
    More chasing. More chasing. Alright, this time, Kirby'd get him. Okay, no, yeah, Kirby was getting pretty much on the end of his rope here. Kirby flopped back, sitting on the floor as Meta Knight recovered from the most recent attempt on his life.  
    "Kirby, you must stop this."  
    "Nuh, poyo..!"  
    Kirby shook his head, furrowing more into his anger, watching Meta Knight back off. Kirby pushed himself off the ground, fresh determination pulsing through him before immediately being taken by fatigue.   
    "You sound exhausted.."  
    "Poyo.."  
    Kirby was practically hissing that. So, taking note of something obvious? Oh. Oh no. Kirby stumbled back, falling back onto his butt and wheezing. It's a fearful wheeze.  
    Kirby's heard of what Meta Knight does to exerted foes. The ones that can't defend themselves properly after he's made them fight for as long as possible— now Kirby was worried he might become one of the many he'd heard about.  
    Meta Knight detected this fear.  
    "I won't do anything.. I merely wish to talk.."  
    What a lie. Just to lure Kirby into some false sense of security and safety? Kirby wasn't that dumb. The pink puff wheezed and gasped, making an attempts at inhaling but failing out of his sudden, striking fear.  
    "Kirby, calm down, I do not wish to hurt you."  
    What a lie! A lie! A bold-faced lie! Meta Knight hurt  _all_ of Kirby's friends, now he had the audacity to say he wouldn't hurt him!? How insulting this was, for Meta Knight to ever think that Kirby would even believe that for a second!  
    "Tell me what's made you this way.."  
    "Poyhh-h!"  
    Kirby broke into loud, loud tired coughing. The sort that had flem or something behind it. Kirby stumbled to his feet once more, Meta Knight looked ready to bolt once more. Bolt he should've, because Kirby went right back on inhaling.   
    For Ma, for everyone who was slain by this beast.. Kirby would get rid of him! He had to!   
    Through the thirty minutes of one sided battle, the two orbs had made multiple laps around in the castle's hallways. This meant that lots of the walls had been victim to Kirby's vacuum, and multiple times too. This was a pretty bad thing, considering with each time he tried this attack, more and more bricks would fly into his gullet to be used as ammunition for when he spat it all back out.  
    This one hall, the one Kirby was now trying to suck up Meta Knight in, was apparently very, very weak. So much so that after a second of trying to consume the blue orb (and Kirby was  _this_ close to doing it, Meta Knight's cape flapping basically in his face), there was a loud crumbling sound. Kirby could see it in the distance, further down the corridor.  
    Kirby was this close. He couldn't stop his attempt on the knight's life— even if the entire ceiling collapsed down on him. Which, well, that's exactly what happened.  
    The ceiling fell down on Kirby's head, squishing him under a mound of sandstone and yellow lime bricks. This, ontop of Kirby's stated tiredness, was enough to knock the pink orb out cold. He sure wasn't going to be happy when he woke; Meta Knight was strong enough to almost immediately get out from underneath all the debris, and almost unscathed too.


	4. Day 2

    To say that Meta Knight was revolted was an understatement. The orb had faced war, watched his friends perish, watch as the galaxy fell into the clutches of evil, but still. This. This had topped all of that, and somehow managed to make Meta Knight legitimately even more mad than he was before. About this whole situation. Meta Knight had gone over sick with worry after Kirby had been crushed under mounds of castle stone, and refused to wake up.  
    For the entire first night, Meta Knight did not sleep. He was worried. Very, very worried. His insomnia assisted him in this endeavor, but he fell asleep last night. Begrudingly. Sword and Blade convinced him to go to bed, so he did. He had a hard time going to sleep, but he managed.  
    He really wished he didn't.  
    For, there, in his dreams, eNeMeE had arrived. Meta Knight was definitely less than happy to see the wizard there, much less when the guy essentially admitted to being the reason as to why Kirby was this way. Meta Knight should've suspected as much. He should've. But this, even this. This was a new low. The bar was set very low before, but now eNeMeE was just digging a hole in the ground to bring the bar ever further down.  
    eNeMeE's influence on Kirby.. Getting Kirby to attack him.. Meta Knight feared the worst. Would this be like..? No, it wouldn't be like that. eNeMeE didn't even admit to that. He would've bragged about making Kirby into a 'monster', which the man didn't. There was still some hope for the toddler. There was still some, somewhere in there.  
    Meta Knight made sure that he would bring Kirby out from eNeMeE's manipulation and brainwashing. The blue orb figured such a thing would be fraught with trial and tribulation, but he'd have to suck it up and deal with it. This was Kirby. Kirby needed his help.  
    Kirby..  
    "Eh, soroight, how long ya think 'e gon be standin' there for?"  
    "Blade, don't talk about 'im right to his face!"  
    "Ey, Popstar to Meta Knight."  
    Meta Knight snapped out of his thoughts, blinking at the two knights. Eyes switching from green to normal yellow. Right. He was here to see Kirby.. See if the tot woke up.   
    "Sword, Blade."  
    Meta Knight greeted, noticing they were standing infront of Kirby's room— the place where Meta figured would be best to keep Kirby as he rested instead of the dungeons like the king had suggested.  
    "What are you two doing here?"  
    The two knights looked at eachother before back at Meta.  
    "We caught Kirby outside of his room. He's awake now."  
    Sword didn't sound very happy about this. Why wouldn't he be? Kirby was awake!  
    "Then I shall see him-"  
    "We.. Don't really think that's a good idea, sir."  
    Meta Knight blinked again at that. He needed to see Kirby. He needed to make sure the puff was okay-  
    "Soroight, last time ya saw 'im, 'e tore the ceiling down 'n took ya with him under it. That and chased ya like you were some game animal."  
    Oh. Right. Meta Knight looked towards the closed oak door, solemnly. His emotions got the better of him, there. Blocked out all logical sense. Kirby still most likely wanted to harm him, so to go in there with such little space to move.. That would've been certain doom.  
    "Me 'n Sword are gonna be lookin' after 'im. Like, eh, supervisin'."  
    "Thank you both."  
    The two knights nodded at the thanks, but still appeared as if they had more to say.  
    "Sir, eh, could you go into town?"  
    Sword perked up, suddenly.  
    "Hm? Yes, I can. What do you need?"  
    "Well eh, I'm goin' to be workin' on the cleanup with the Waddle Dees whilst Blade watches over Kirby, so we sorta need ya to go out on the town and buy stuff for Kirby. Like, food, toys, stuff like that. Mostly toys, little guy seems pretty bored in a room by himself."  
    That's pretty proactive. Getting Kirby stuff so he doesn't get bored. Food, yes, Meta Knight would've thought of, but toys probably would've been a second thought.  
    "Try 'n get your mind off things while you're out there, sir."  
    "Thank you, Sword. I will try."  
    With that, Meta Knight turned from the two, walking off down the hallway. He heard a door open and close behind him, telling that Blade was getting to work already. He might as well get going as well.   
    Meta Knight didn't go into town often, if at all. He was a more reclusive guy, after all. He just cooked his own food, looked out for himself and had no reason to go out and do stuff since the Waddle Dees always went out and bought stuff for everyone in the castle.  
    Seeing as how those same Waddle Dees were busy cleaning up a collapsed hallway, he didn't really have much of a choice. As soon as he left the castle's walls, he squinted to adjust his eyes to the outside world. He really hadn't left much these past two or so days, if at all.  
    So, going out could do him some good.  
    Down the path from Castle Dedede was Cappytown. A nice village with welcoming people. So welcoming that a few tipped their hats to him as he passed or even verbally greeted him. He may be a recluse, but he certainly wasn't rude. He greeted back, being polite as a knight should be.  
    His way to the convenience store was fairly nice. Hopefully the rest of the day was like this. With the glass doors sliding open, Meta Knight stepped into the store of overly-priced snacks and goodies. This was the only place that stocked some semblance of toys, so..  
    "Hey there Meta Knight!"   
    The cashier, a Cappy whose name he couldn't quite remember, met him as soon as the little dingle played upon his entrance.  
    "What can I do ya for?"  
    "I am in need of.. Children's toys."  
    Meta Knight left from the doorway and led himself over to a triangularly stacked tower of various plushies. Yes, a triangle. Not a pyramid. It was very percarious looking, and Meta Knight wasn't the type to ruin a display just to get something he wanted. Plus, the plush at the top was.. Up really high..   
    Curses.  
    Meta Knight turns his attention back to the cashier, in a inaudible plea for help.  
    "Oh, some toys? Did you have a kid?"  
    The fellow quickly got out a stool from behind his counter and was coming over to help Meta Knight get the stuffed creature he so desired.  
    "No. There is just a guest staying with us at the castle who is a child. A permanent guest."  
    "So you adopted a kid?"  
    The cashier dropped the stool down infront of the display, getting ontop of it.  
    "..Well, I mean.."  
    "Well, its always good to see new faces in Cappytown! What's the guy's name?"  
    "It's Kirby."  
    Retrieving the stuffy, the fluffy creature was handed down to the knight who took it in his hand to examine it. Yup. It sure was fluffy.   
    "Sounds like a good kid!"  
    "He is."  
    Meta Knight knows Kirby is a good kid. He knows. It doesn't matter that eNeMeE corrupted and manipulated him, Meta Knight knew the pink tot was good. He knew. He just knew, no matter what.  
    "Is there anything else you'd suggest, toy-wise..?"  
    "Oh yeah, sure!"  
    Thank goodness he didn't have to do all this by himself.  
    The next couple of minutes consisted of Meta Knight browsing overly expensive plastic gizmos and what not. Sure, it was no toy-store, but at least it was something. It had half an aisle of toys and what not.  
    After getting all the stuff put into a plastic bag, Meta Knight went to leave.  
    "Uh hey! You didn't pay!"  
    "Put it on the king's account, please."  
    With that, a resigned sigh from the cashier and a little jingle from the automatic glass doors as Meta Knight departed back onto the streets. Stars, it was such a nice day outside.. The sun was shining, birds chirping, just.. All in all, a pleasant day.  
    Made him almost forget he was almost eaten alive just a couple days ago and Kirby still wanted to eviscerate him from existence.  
    It made him wonder what eNeMeE did to Kirby to make him this way. Specifically. Yes, obviously, there was brainwashing. If Meta Knight knew what the fiend did specifically, it'd help him assist with Kirby's recovery from it. Perhaps he'd get answers from the wizard tonight. Try to worm it out of him somehow..  
    "Sir Meta Knight!"  
    Brought of his small thoughts, Tiff ran up to him. Not followed by Tuff, surprisingly enough. She seemed pretty happy to see him, and Meta Knight somewhat suspected that she looked up to him in some ways, which is why she insisted on talking to him.  
    "You're outside! What's the occasion?"  
    When she and the other Ebrums came back from their vacation yesterday to a slightly ruined castle, Tiff wasn't exactly all too happy about it. It definitely wasn't the best introduction to Kirby one could get.  
    "Our pink guest has woken up today."  
    "What??"  
    Tiff sounded pretty perturbed by that. Her voice got squeaky and loud.  
    "So you came out to get some stuff to knock him out again?"  
    "No. Just some things that'll hopefully distract him from me whilst he stays with us."  
    Meta Knight, extremely serious, pulled out a rubber duck from the plastic back and squished it, letting its squeaky noise be heard by the child who was basically taller than him.  
    "Tiff, he may seem dangerous at the moment, but Kirby is after me. No one else. He will pose no danger to you. This is why I will ask-"  
    "What!? Why is he after you?!"  
    ..Yeah, Meta Knight wasn't exactly the best 'keep everything on the low' sort of conversationalist.  
    "He has been corrupted by the evil corporation, Nightmare Enterprises."  
    Corrupted was a decent way to say it. It wasn't exactly untrue.  
    "Corrupted..?"  
    "Yes. But if Kirby is shown enough love and compassion, we may be able to combat this corruption."  
    That's what he hoped, anyways.  
    "It will take a fairly long time to get rid of it, and we may not be able to remove all traces of corruption, but still. So, Tiff, will you help me with taking care of Kirby? Sword and Blade are already assisting me, but even still, I feel as though the two of them may not be enough."  
    Tiff looked awestruck then starstruck at the request.   
    "I'll do it!"  
    A look of fresh determination on her face. Perfect. Now Sword and Blade didn't need to be overworked or taken away from duties as often as they would've. This also meant..  
    Meta Knight put the rubber duck back in the bag, handing it over to Tiff.  
    "Deliver these to Kirby, if you will."  
    "I will! See you later, Sir Meta Knight!"  
    Ah, the joys of other people. It meant he didn't have to do everything.. Was he lazy? Yeah, he was definitely a bit lazy. Okay, no, he was very, very lazy sometimes.  
    Regardless, having Tiff assist with Kirby's recovery might speed it up. Seeing as how Tiff is an outside force and Kirby would've never seen her before, she would be able to be trusted easier.. If Kirby made friends with her, it'd definitely help things. This was just the first step of many; her bringing the toys. The more he stayed out of it, the better for his own health (and possibly Kirby's too).  
    And, no, this is totally not him justifying the fact he just dumped all his work onto a child.

 

* * *

 

 

    "Sir Meta Knight told me to give these to Kirby."  
    Tiff held out the bag for Blade to examine. The guy was standing outside of this door like a bouncer to a club. Blade took a quick look, then gave a long dissapointed sounding sigh.   
    "Soroight, course 'e did.."  
    "What, do you think I'm lying?"  
    Tiff was accusing, making Blade startle a bit, holding his hands out infront of him like he might be punched.  
    "A-Ain't sayin' that, soroight, it's just Sir Meta Knight was supposed tah-"  
    "Well, I'm doing it for him. So, I'm going to see Kirby and give him these toys."  
    Tiff stamped her foot impatiently, making Blade feel ever so slightly exasperated by her princessy attitude. Always so demanding.. Well, she was going to get what she wanted, since it was Meta Knight's order.  
    Blade unlocked and unbarred the door, pushing it open for Tiff to enter. She took a deep breath before going directly into the lair of the pink beast. The door closed behind her for good measure.  
    The room was pretty bare. Very boring. It was a small guest room. Very small. The room was probably eleven by five, with a small one-person bed in the corner, facing an equally small dresser at it's end. Other than that, there is absolutely no other furniture in here. It's more like a prison cell than an actual guest room. It was incredibly pathetic compared to Tiff's own bedroom.  
    There wasn't only furniture in this room, however. In contrast to the drab blanket it sat on, there was a big pink ball with feet. So bright compared to everything else in here.. It turned to look at Tiff with these big blue eyes.   
    "Are you Kirby?"  
    Tiff questioned, getting a smile from Kirby, along with a wave.  
    "Haaiiii, poyo!"  
    Kirby bounced up and down on the bed playfully. Tiff cocked her head a bit. This.. This was Kirby, a 'corrupted' being who tried to hurt Meta Knight? The same thing that caused all that damage that the Waddle Dees had to clean up? This was him?   
    "This can't be right.. Blade, are you sure this is Kirby?"  
    Tiff called, turning to the wooden door.  
    "Soroight, yeh, that's Kirby alroight."  
    "..Are you sure??"  
    "Yeh."  
    Tiff found that extremely hard to believe. This.. This was Kirby. Alright. This cute pink orb with an adorable face was a thing of mass destruction. Yeah, sure, okay. Well, he seems pretty docile.. At least, for now. Meta Knight did say Kirby was only after him, and that Tiff would be fine, but she's still going to be cautious regardless.  
    She walked over to the orb slowly, plastic bag slightly shaking.  
    "W-Well uh, Kirby, my name is Tiff! I'm going to be your friend and help you adjust to your life here."  
    Kirby was moreso curious about what the bag held, hearing all the rustling. He's like a kid that someone was jingling keys infront of..  
    "Poyo.. Tuhh.. Tiff, poyo?"  
    Yeah, this was definitely some sort of infant, since he was having troubles with her name. A superpowered baby that could bring down a hallway of a stone castle. A smiling, pink, corrupted, superpowered baby.  
    "Yup, that's my name."  
    Tiff chuckled, keeping her nervousness in.  
    "Here, Met-" Tiff suddenly figured how Meta Knight is probably not a good topic to bring up, "uh, me and my brother went out and got you some toys to play with!"  
    Nice save.  
    Tiff held out the bag infront of Kirby for him to look inside. Which, he did, curious as any other toddler would be. He pulled out a squeaky duck toy with his nub, holding it up, then bringing it to the front of his face. He even squeaked it a couple times!   
    "Aw, you like the duck?"  
    Tiff asked, rhetorical. Kirby answered the question with the simple act of opening his mouth and swallowing the duck toy whole. Tiff went from 'aw how adorable' to 'wait no bad' in a matter of miliseconds.  
    "No, no, Kirby, don't eat it!"  
    Kirby swallowed.  
    "Blade! Kirby just ate a rubber duck!"  
    "Should be fine, eh.. Kid ate rocks too, nothin' came out of it. Kirby's supposed to 'ave the appetite of a black 'ole, eh? It's 'is species's way."  
    So Kirby's got the diet of a trash can? Alright.. Weird. Maybe she could get some answers from Meta Knight later. Either way, Tiff gets the feeling that babysitting this kid won't be like babysitting another Cappy...


	5. Day 89

    "Poyo poyo.."  
    "Yeah, soroight, I dun like it neither.."  
    Blade placed the plate of (what was meant to be) food on the nearby dresser. Meta Knight's cooking was absolute.. Uh, well, for lack of a better term.. Literal rubbish. The guy was trying, yeah, but geez was he just awful at it. Not even Kirby wanted to eat it.. There goes Blade's plans of basically throwing his 'dinner' into the living black hole.  
    Well, he's here to play with the kid, he can just throw his 'food' into that pet octopus's tank that Dedede got recently, go grab a snack from a kitchen, then go and show Meta Knight the empty plate. Yeah, that's a plan. Blade heard fish weren't smart enough to feel pain, so they could probably eat up Meta Knight's cooking no problem. He hoped so, at least.. Poor thing.  
    Blade picked a little plush animal off the ground and put it infront of Kirby, watching Kirby make these really, really weird noises. It's like the kid was trying to be a monster or something. Making the same noises as one would. It's pretty adorable in some sense.. Then Blade remembers this guy was brainwashed by Nightmare Enterprises, and the whole thing loses it's amount of adorableness.  
    How Kirby managed to survive in that Stars-defying company is beyond him. That place is supposed to be filled to the brim with monsters and terrible people. Not to mention the ugliest CEO the galaxy had the displeasure of looking at. The thought of this kid somehow living there.. It's just so bizarre. Was he raised by monsters? By the big ugly himself?  
    What Blade and the other two knights decided on was that NME had just straight up brainwashed the kid. Put him through a machine or something, and pop, there, a perfectly obedient, Meta Knight-hating super toddler. Kirby hated the guy so much that just the mention of Meta Knight's name was enough to send him into an angry tantrum. Blade found that out the hard way.  
    "Poyo, poyo!"  
    Kirby suddenly pushed the stuffed animal right into Blade's helmet visor. The kid wanted Blade to really pay attention to this very, very important stuffed animal. Kirby's almost offended that Blade hasn't been paying attention to the noises Kirby's been making this entire time.  
    "Soroight, cute thing, ain't it?"  
    "Vrwrwrwrwrrwrrrwrr, poyoooo!"  
    The plushie was a snake. Blade has literally no idea what snakes make a 'vrwvrvwvrvwvrw' noise.  
    Suddenly, the door was flung open by none other than the castle troublemaker himself. Blade had to practically grab Kirby to make sure the kid didn't rush out the door as soon as it opened.  
    "I'm here for my shift!"  
    Tuff was oddly.. Enthusiastic. Blade squinted, not that the kid could see it. Suspicious.. What could this kid be planning, showing up early for his turn of babysitting? Well, so long as it didn't leave this room, Blade supposed it'd be fine..   
    "..Aight."  
    Blade pushed the snake plush back into Kirby's little nubs. Kirby, though a bit disheartened by the fact that Blade was leaving, lightened back up as soon as he recognized Tuff. So, it's a pretty good replacement in caretaker.  
    "'Ave fun. 'N no takin Kirby outta this room, eh?"  
    Blade took his plate from the dresser.   
    "Yeah yeah, why do you keep telling me that? It's like you expect me to bust Kirby outta this room or something!"  
    Blade gave a hard look at the kid before shuffling past him, through the doorframe. After making sure Tuff was completely in the room, Blade shut and barred the door. No kid's gonna be able to get past that lock system. Not Tuff, at least.  
  


* * *

  
  
    Tuff told Kirby to inhale the door as soon as the two got bored in the room. With Kirby's massive power, the door was ripped off its hinges in a matter of seconds. It was pretty tubular to watch. Tuff even cheered as soon as the thing was gone. Like, who keeps kids locked up in a boring, tiny room? It's pure cruelty! Kids needed to be out and about, playing soccer or watching TV or something!  
    So, naturally, Tuff's out here freeing Kirby. Kirby shouldn't be stuck in some boring room for the rest of his life! Kirby needs to be out and about, making friends and playing soccer!  
    Tuff's encouraging exactly that; Kirby's activity in a sport. Soccer, of course. Kirby's actually pretty halfway decent at it too. The kid kicks so hard the ball smashes into the opposition's goalie, taking both the ball and the goalie themselves into the net. Almost looked like the ball was on fire with how fast it'd moved!  
    "Nice one Kirby!"  
    Tuff praised with a chuckle, getting an appreciative 'poyo' back. Though, the kid unfortunate enough to be goalie (without any manner of protective gear) wasn't as cheery as the two. He groaned distantly, obviously in pain.   
    "Okay but uh, maybe a bit less hard on the ball next time."  
    Tuff tacked on, rushing over to the boy Cappy and helping the kid up. Nothing more than a few outside bruises. Tuff sighed thankfully, not wanting to get in trouble with anyone else's parents.  
    "Poyo?"  
    Kirby poked at the Cappy, who winced from the injuries.  
    "I don't wanna play anymore, I hurt all over.."  
    "Well, shoot. I don't wanna be goalie if Kirby's going to be kicking the ball at me."  
    Tuff complained as the other boy trudged off to the sidelines. He thought for a moment, trying to think of a solution to their sudden dilemna. Then, it struck him as quickly as the soccerball hit that Cappy.  
    "I got it! Kirby, you be goalie, and I'll shoot at you! Betcha aren't as good as a defender as you are a attacker!"  
    Tuff taunted. Kirby, feeling the need to defend his pride, puffed up a little bit before jumping into the empty goal, before lightly kicking the ball over to Tuff. Kirby had this almost mischievous looking smirk on his face. Well, Tuff's about to wipe that dumb look off it.  
    With a single solid kick, he spirals the ball towards the goal, only for Kirby to start inhaling. The ball just. Disappears into his mouth. It's gone. Poof. There it goes. Just like the door Kirby ate. Gone.  
    "Kirby you're not- you can't just inhale the ball!! How am I gonna get a new one!?"  
    Tuff exaggerated his exasperation a tad as he went over, forcefully opening Kirby's mouth with his hands. He expected to see the ball in there, but nope. Nothing. Not even teeth.   
    "Kirby, spit it back up!"  
    Tuff demanded, letting Kirby have control of his face again. Kirby rubbed at his lips a lil with his nubs before giving Tuff a look that said 'can't do that, sorry'. Tuff was about to give all the reasons as to why Kirby should spit it out when he got a devilish idea. Which, of course, he was not going to second-think.  
    Tuff reeled his foot back, aimed for the replacement ball, and-  
    "Tuff! What are you doing!?"  
    Just the voice he didn't want to hear. Across the field, came the stomping princess known as Tiff. Bossy, egotistical, a bunch of other mean words as well. Always on her high horse, even now. Tiff was more than upset when she saw Tuff's plans, then startled when she realized that Kirby was actually outside, not in his little prison cell.  
    "Kirby's not supposed to be outside, and you shouldn't be trying to kick him!"  
    Tiff dashed over, grabbing Kirby and holding him up in a hug. Fat little pink orb.. She could barely get her arms around him.  
    "Aw, c'mon sis. I felt bad for him, he's locked up in that dumb, boring room all day, every day! He's supposed to be outside or at least watching TV or something!"  
    "Sir M'Kay said that Kirby should only be let out when he's shown that he's not a threat to anyone-"  
    Tiff suddenly trailed off, realizing what she was saying. On a sidenote, she'd started calling Sir Meta Knight 'Sir M'Kay' instead of his full name. She'd explained to Tuff to do the same, because of Kirby's whole hatred for the knight.  
    "The only thing this guy is a threat to is goalies and soccer balls."  
    "Well, still! Tuff, you never know what could possibly set him off, or if he even can be set off by things! It's dangerous, you and Kirby could both get hurt!"  
    Tuff ripped Kirby out of Tiff's hands.  
    "Well, you're hurting our fun. Isn't that right, Kirby?"  
    Kirby looked at Tiff, then at Tuff. Like he's trying to decide who he should be siding with here; the guy who wants Kirby to have freedom or the girl who wants to imprison him.  
    "Poyo."  
    Kirby nodded. Tuff lit up with a proud grin.  
    "See?"  
    "..Suh, See? See? Poyo, See? See? Poyo, poyo.. See? Poyoyo, poyo, poyo See?"  
    Kirby suddenly started parroting, looking around for something. He even wiggled out of Tuff's grasp, waddling around the field in his search.  
    "No, Kirby, I was trying to prove to Tiff that you wanted to play with me, not that there's something around."  
    "See, poyo? Poyo, See? See?"  
    Tuff giggled a bit, looking back to an agitated sister.  
    "You were going to kick him, Tuff! You know he came from that company Sir M'Kay told us about! You have no idea if hurting Kirby could set off some sort of corruption trauma!"  
    Tiff is whispering as to not have Kirby hear.  
    "You could've gotten inhaled, or kicked back, or something! You could've gotten hurt!"  
    "You worry too much, sis-"  
    "You don't worry enough! Did you not see what Kirby did to the castle!? He could do that to you if he really wanted to! At any moment! We don't know if hurting him would give him motivation to!"  
    ..Yeah, that's a not at all chilling prospect.  
    "It's rude to hurt him in the first place, corrupted or not! So-"  
    "See! Poyo, poyo, see!"  
    Kirby was back over by the two, tugging on Tiff's hand, trying to get her attention. Well, he more than succeeded. Kirby pointed towards somewhere, which Tuff followed with his eyes. The siblings gasped as they saw something.. Well, um, not particularly normal.  
    There's a gigantic red octopus ensnaring Dedede's castle.   
    After letting the two know the creature existed, Kirby suddenly started running. Running towards the castle, and holy geez was this kid quick. Despite Tiff shouting at him to slow down, Kirby did not slow whatsoever. Even Tuff was no match for Kirby, despite the fact that Tuff had been playing soccer and racing around basically his whole life.  
    Kirby's just. Gone.  
  


* * *

  
  
    Kirby got busy dodging wriggling red tentacles and tiny octopi as soon as he went in. His entire trek through the octopus-infested castle had him dodging and using his learnt skills to the best of his abilities. It's a good thing Ma put him through all that extra agility training, or Kirby might've actually had to use his inhale in order to get past all the baby octopi.  
    Kirby certainly didn't want to hurt the creature, or any of their little spawned children. All he had to do was go up and meet the big guy face to face. So, after more than five minutes of trying to figure up a way onto a balcony of the castle, Kirby managed through using his float ability on a nearby window up to it. It didn't seem like the octopus was actually focused on hurting Kirby (of course it wouldn't be) so he was rather undisturbed by the big guy himself.  
    "Poyoyo! Poyo!"  
    Kirby called, trying to get their attention from whatever they were shooting baby octopuses at. Like a bell at the top of a retail store's door, Kirby got the notice from them. They moved their big face to directly infront of the orb, eyes narrowed and angry for a reason Kirby wasn't sure of. Well, Kirby was about to find out, wasn't he?  
    "Plblblbpbplpbllbpplbp??"  
    Kirby asked, getting an instant reaction of both confusion and some amount of relief. They unfurrowed their 'brow' and looked at Kirby with much more gentle eyes, like they realized who exactly he was.  
    "Plbbpblblpblppbplblpbbplpblplbpblpbp."  
    They answered back. Y'know, that's.. Sorta a weird reason to go rampaging around. Well, granted, Kirby's a guy who likes food too, but destroying things and attacking people just because ya ate something bad? That's a bit much, even for Kirby. Guess it's not enough for this Octacon. Kirby's just going to try not to judge, don't mind him.  
    "Plbbpbpblbpllpbplblb."  
    "Blpbbplbplpblpbllbpblblb."  
    Kirby nodded at the point they made. But..  
    "Plbplblblblbplbpblpbblblpbllblbpl. Bllbplbplblplbplpbplbplblblb."  
    "Plbpblblbpblpb.."  
    They blinked a bit, trying to think of what else to say.  
    "B.. Blbplbppblbbbllb. Plbplbplblblblbpblb."  
    They continued, looking both uncertain and determined. So it's like that, then.. Alright.  
    "Blbllbplbplblblpplblbl, pblpplbpblbppblbpblb. Bpblblbplbplbpb. Blbpblbpbplblblblp. Bpllplpbplbppblblbplbpb."  
    They had no response to that. Kirby waited for one, but none came. They blinked, then closed their eyes, nodded, and shrank back down into their more 'docile' form. Kirby caught their little pink body in his nubs and gave them a hug. As soon as it ended, they floated back up, gave Kirby an appreciative pat on the face with one of their tiny tentacles, then floated away. Off into the distance; towards the sea.  
    Kirby gave a wave.  
    "Plbplblbpbl! Poyo!"  
    It's always good courtesy to wish someone the best when they leave, so that's what Kirby did. Almost teared up too.   
    ...  
    "Okay, first off, how did ya get out of yer room."  
    Oh, that's Sword's voice. Kirby turned to see the guy standing in the 'frame' out to the balcony Kirby stood on.  
    "Second off, how did ya do that."  
    Sword picked up Kirby in his gloved hands. Kirby felt sort of in trouble here.. Well, yeah, he's not supposed to be out of his room, so.. Guess he was in trouble, then.  
    "Poyoy, poyo, poy, Ma poyo, poyoyo. Poyo poyo, poy, poyoy, pbplblbpblblpblb."  
    There's this nice, empty silence for a second or so.  
    "We need 'a translator for ya or somethin'.."  
    Sword tucked Kirby under his arm and began a trek back down to Kirby's room. The entire journey was spent in anxious silence from the orb, and he was just worried he'd get lectured or something for being out of that tiny little room of his. Oh jeez.  
    When the two arrived back at Kirby's room, Sword takes note of how the door is completely gone. Like, hinges and all. A few of the stone bricks had been moved towards the room's inside.  
    "Yeah, dunno why we didn't think ya wouldn't do that."  
    Sword sighed, looking at the damages. Before he could think of much else, though, there was the tip-tapping of feet down the hall.  
    "S-Sword! Soroight, t-the monster-"  
    Oh, hey Blade.  
    "Kirby talked it away in a eh.. What was it again?"  
    "Plbpblbplblpbb."  
    "Like that."  
    Blade wheezed as he stopped by the two, sounding quite out of breath. He put his hands on his nonexistent knees, coughed a bit, then straightened back up again. Just needed a moment, Kirby guessed.  
    "Wonder what set that thing off.."  
    Sword wondered out loud, Blade coughing again.  
    "Y-Yeh, uh.. Coulda been anything.. Maybe Dedede just told it to eh, start attacking?"  
    "Dunno why he'd do that, but guess so, eh?"  
    Sword turned back to the frame that lacked a door.  
    "Where're we gonna put Kirby now?"  
    "There'a 'undered other rooms like that one, we can just stick him in there-"  
    "Kid figured out he can just inhale the door to get out."  
    "..Soroight, that ain't good.."  
    "We needa put 'im somewhere else. But where?"  
    New living arrangements? Hopefully it wasn't in an even smaller room! Kirby barely had any space in that last one.. Then, as if answering the question Sword put up, Tiff appeared from down the hall, coming over briskly.  
    "What happened? The octopus just disappeared!"  
    Tiff asked, getting the knight's attention.  
    "Kirby talked it down, eh. Floated off into the horizon like Kirby gave it life advice."  
    Sword informed, still not having put Kirby down out of this weird hold he's got.  
    "It just gave up?"  
    "Yeh."  
    "Kirby's able to talk it's language or somethin'."  
    Tiff was taken aback for a moment, before she seemed to realize something. She nodded thoughtfully to herself.  
    "Eh.. Tiff."  
    Sword suddenly spoke up again, getting her out of her thoughts.  
    "Kirby's gonna need a new place to stay. 'E can't stay in a room with no door, and 'e might just break out again if he's put in another one of these rooms. Could ya keep him with ya in that suite of yours?"  
    Tiff goes bug-eyed for a second, looking a tad nervous.  
    "U-Um, well, I'd have to ask my mom and dad and all that, see if it's okay.."  
    She rubbed the back of her head with her hand, hesitant.  
    "Your suite's on the opposite end of the castle as Sir Orb.. So, should be fine in that regard, if that's what ya're worried 'bout."  
    Sword held Kirby out for Tiff to take. Like an offering. Kirby was accepted, and exchanged in hands.  
    "Go ask em' bout it. I'm sure Kirby's face'll win em over."  
    Oh boy. Oh boy. New place to sleep? And it's going to be with his friends? He gets to like, actually live with his friends? This was pretty exciting! Kirby poyoyed and squirmed in Tiff's grasp, turning around to really face her. He wrapped his nubs around her, giving her a hug.  
    There's a happy sigh from her.  
    "Yeah, okay, I'll go see. Just make sure 'Sir Orb' doesn't come by that side of the castle."


	6. Day 90

    It was getting really late now. Well, he assumed it was getting late, because his eyes were getting that dryness one gets when the day's fatigue and exhaustion finally catches up to them. Today was pretty exciting, so it's no wonder he's so tired. He finally got out of that room, talked down a big octopus friend, got moved to a new flat, met some new people.. All in all, very exciting.  
    Kirby was enjoying the new feature he had in this nice, wide apartment. The view. The built in balcony. At first he was satisfied just looking out the window, but when he found out that window was actually a door and he could cross into the outside world, he was more than happy to. The view, looking both across long plains and undisturbed forests, all for it to close down upon a quiet town. The sky, oh the sky too..  
    Nebulas, galaxies, the moon and the stars. Everything glimmered brightly, lighting it all up in purples and blues in a dazzling display. The Milky Way shown across the sky in a gigantic stripe, not to overshadow everything else that was offered, though. Kirby'd only seen this sort of view in pictures, pictures See would show him on the huge display in the command center.   
    Kirby held his nub up, reaching up and pointing at a few stars he'd recognized, mentally noting them. Though, the more he looked up at the starry sky, the more he felt homesick. He did want to go home, as quickly as possible. He wanted to go back to Ma, to See, to all the other people he'd only known through small talk. Stars overlaid on blue..   
    "Ma.."  
    Kirby mumbled, putting his nub down on the balcony's railing.   
    As nice as this place was, Kirby still didn't belong here. He wanted to go back to the cold metal fortress, go snuggle up next to a Fire Lion and gain Ma's praise for eviscerating Meta Knight. That's all Kirby wanted. He was just biding his time.. Trying to figure things out. He still wanted to get rid of Meta Knight, yes, he was just locked up for the majority of his stay. He hadn't even seen Meta Knight at all except for that first day.  
    Meta Knight most likely ordered for him to be put in that room, then went into hiding. Maybe he'd even skipped town? That's possible.. Oh jeez, he couldn't have possibly gotten away in the like,  _months_ that Kirby stayed locked up, right?   
    No, if that were the case, Ma probably would've taken him back by now, to send him to wherever Meta Knight fled. Meta Knight was still here, he was sure. Not sure why the guy was still lingering, considering how Kirby wanted to like.. Y'know, remove him from existence, but still. No chip off Kirby's shoulder.  
    ...  
    Kirby sighs softly at the fact he hadn't heard from Ma once during all of this. He really wanted to see Ma again.. He'd just have to find someone hidden in order to do it. Then he'd be showered with hugs and affection. But.. But what if he couldn't? He'd failed once, what if he'd failed again? And again? What if he just kept failing until Meta Knight decided to stop being such a coward and actually attack him?  
    There's a noise from inside the flat. Someone walking around. He turned to see who, spinning around on a dime.   
    "Oh, Kirby, what're you still doing up?"  
    Just Tiff's mom (who he didn't catch the name of). Y'know, he could ask her the same question.  
    "It's midnight Kirby, you must go to sleep at the same time as Tiff and Tuff if you're staying with us."  
    She wandered on over, blue-white nightgown fluttering a little bit at its ends as she stepped onto the balcony to join him. She looked just about ready to pick him up and bring him back inside.  
    "Poyoy.. Poyo, Ma.."  
    Kirby turned from her and pointed to the sky.  
    "'Ma'? Kirby, whatever are you talking about..?"  
    "Ma, poyo."  
    Kirby emphasized by wiggling his nub a tad.  
    "Oh, that's right, Sword and Blade told me you were from space. Is your Ma up in space, Kirby?"  
    Kirby didn't turn to her to nod.  
    "Oh, you must feel awfully homesick, being so far from home and so young too.."  
    Suddenly, Kirby was picked up in her hands and his back was against her chest. A warm comfort indeed.. An orb between two other orbs. He can still see the sky, which is what's more important than how he's held.  
    "My mother sent me out to a finishing school, and I remember how scared it made me to be in a brand new place, away from home. All to learn proper lady's etiquette. The first night, I remember crying, acting like it was the end of the world that I wasn't in my own bed."  
    Oh? A story?  
    "But the longer I stayed there, the more friends and memories I made. Eventually, all the homesickness was replaced by the happiness I got and gave to my friends. I think, Kirby, that you are a lot like me when I was younger. Just going through the sad parts of your time away from home. But, just like me, you'll find things that'll make you feel better while you're away."  
    "Poyo.."  
    He would like to look at the sky without feeling a sour taste in his mouth. The sour taste of missing something. Of missing Ma, along with the very real worry of disappointing him.  
    "And just like me in finishing school, you have a lights out time just like everyone else, young mister."  
    Kirby didn't struggle as she took him back inside, closing the doors to the balcony behind her. She placed him back on the couch, wrapping him up in the yellow blanket Tuff had spared for him.  
    "Poyoy, poy."  
    Kirby babbled as he snuggled the blanket into his face.   
    "You'll have plenty of time to stoically look at the night sky tomorrow, dear. For now, it's time to sleep."  
    She kissed Kirby on the forehead before she crossed over to the kitchen. She grabbed herself a glass of water, downed it, then retreated into her own bedroom, leaving Kirby alone once more.  
    On one nub, Kirby hoped that she was right. That his sadness would dissipate so he could more effectively get as his job. On the other nub, he was worried that if he was too happy with the people here, that'd interfere with the mission Ma gave him— or at the very least distract him. It's quite the little pickle he was in here.. He'd have to deal with it in the morning.  
    For now, he just wanted the restful blackness of his dreams.   
    As Kirby closed his eyes and held them like that for a couple minutes, that's exactly what he got. Blackness. It was just a matter of moments before he voluntarily lost consciousness and slipped into sleep.  
    Then and only then did his eyes snap open to a place so bright and pastel that he had to shield himself from their snow-like blind. What the heck. Ow.  
    "Hey- ow, ow, Kirby, can you tone it down with all the pastels? This place is going to blind me.. Stars, ow.."  
    Wait a second. That voice.. Kirby blinked a few times, trying to adjust himself to the place he found himself in. It appeared to be some place made entirely out of pastel clouds, which floated around as they pleased. The floor was soft, like the yellow blanket he'd slept in. But the surroundings aren't what he was focusing on. Instead, Kirby's looking at the thing that stuck out among the pastels; the darkly colored caped fellow who floated infront of what seemed to be a slightly cracked open door.   
    "Ma! Ma, poyo!"  
    Kirby was overjoyed to see Ma again, even if it was somewhere that hurt Kirby's eyes. Kirby rushed on over, grabbing onto Ma's cape with his nubs. The grab turned into a full on hug.  
    "Yeah, uh.."  
    Ma seemed hesitant, taking a good moment really take it all in.  
    "Nice to see you too."  
    Kirby soon unhugged when he realized he wasn't getting a hug back.  
    "So. Meta Knight."  
    Kirby's mood instantly dropped. Ma probably noticed, but he didn't seem to care.  
    "You haven't gotten rid of him yet. You haven't tried to get rid of him at all in the past like.. What, couple months? What's up with that, huh? Are you just being lazy or something? You know I can't bring you back until you get rid of him."  
    The pastels were really hurting Kirby's eyes, because man the things were watering right now.  
    "Ugh, don't cry. Look, I'm not mad. Just dissapointed. Don't cry. You've got a ton of time to get rid of him. I don't care when it is, as long as it's like- just.. Just has to be done. End goal, he's gone. Doesn't matter when."  
    Kirby sniffled, looking up at Ma.  
    "I've got a plan to help you though, kiddo. Help you out with all this."  
    Ma's going to help?  
    "The guy you're staying with, he buys monsters from me. That's what Cust-, eh, 'See' says. I'll keep making monsters for him, but they'll be programmed to help you out, and to focus on getting rid of Meta Knight."  
    Oh yeah, that's very helpful.  
    "So, listen, Kirby. You cannot interfere with them, just let them do their job and assist them whenever needed. Do you understand?"  
    Kirby nodded.  
    "That's my little pink monster."  
    Ma chuckled, patting Kirby on the head with his index finger. Kirby poyoed, giggling and patting the finger back with his nubs.  
    "Alright kiddo. I gotta go-"  
    "Poyno!"  
    Kirby shouted, catching him off guard for a moment.  
    "Poyes. I have to go do other stuff. I'm a busy guy, I only just  _now_ had time to visit your dreams. Look, I'll try to visit you if anything serious comes up, but otherwise, just keep up the good moral and all that while I'm gone."  
    Kirby's eyes were watering again.  
    "M-Ma, poyo.. Poyo.."  
    "..Ugh, geez.. Do you want like.. A hug or something..? Will you let me go without crying your eyes out if I hug you..??"  
    Ma looks like he'd just gotten the worst possible set of cards at the poker table. That's the face he had. Kirby, meanwhile, looked like he was all set for a royal flush while everyone else was all in on their bets.  
    "Poyaa, hug!"  
    Kirby wiggled his nubs and received another awkward hug from Ma, this one a tad bit longer than the other. The guy had to bend over forward to properly hug the Korb (Kirby Orb).  
    As soon as the hug was over, Ma was more than happy to head towards that cracked open door as quick as possible. He grabbed onto the handle and swooshed himself behind it.  
    "Yeah, uh, sweet dreams and all that fun jazz. Seeya soon."  
    Ma took the door and slammed it shut, plunging Kirby into thoughtless, instantaneous blackness.   
    Kirby then awoke hours later, bleary eyed, to the smell of fresh pancakes. Blanket still wrapped around him, he shifted and recalled the dream he had. He smiled, knowing that his homesickness would soon be cured. For now, though, Kirby was going to go join his friends for breakfast..  
    As soon as he got himself out of the tortilla wrap-like blanket he's in.


	7. Day 183

    There's a tinge of bitterness in his mouth.  
    "Kirby, wait up!"  
    "Kirbyyy! No!! Don't eat that!! Spit all of that out!! It's not food!!"  
    He figures he should be entertained by all of this, by the antics Kirby and the minister's kids got up to. He partially is, but he mostly isn't. Perhaps the idea of Kirby chugging gasoline in order to run faster whilst Tiff and Tuff chased after him in a frenzy would've been funnier if.. Meta Knight wasn't so absolutely miserable and brooding.  
    It also would help if he got some sleep, some food, but one of those things was hard to get when an evil nightmare wizard enjoyed harassing him.  
    This feeling of lingering heart-wrench, Meta Knight felt, would not be cured if he got more of either of those. He knew it's source, it's source being the very pink orb that he was spying on. Like a ghost, when Kirby went out, Meta Knight went too. Out of boredom, a need to make sure Kirby was safe, out of responsibility.. Out of some fourth, more horrible reason.  
    Watching Kirby run around like nothing, absolutely nothing was wrong.. It pained him. Some part of him lingered for any sign, any, any whatsoever. A sign.. A sign of suffering. A sign of sadness, anger, whatever, something. Something that told Meta Knight that was eNeMeE had done to Kirby was nothing short of horrible, personality-destroying.   
    Meta Knight was hoping for some sign of abuse. Was that sick of him? Sick of him to hope that Kirby had been abused during his brainwashing? Why did Kirby's naive happiness bring him confusion and sorrow?  
    Why is it when Kirby approached monsters bought by the king and defeated them with pure pacifism, Meta Knight felt sick? Why did watching Kirby have fun with the minister's children make him nauseous? He knew he should be happy, because Kirby was happy and possibly recovering, but.. It didn't.   
    The vile feeling in Meta Knight's mouth grew stronger and he couldn't force himself to partake in this.. This hobby that felt more like self-punishment than actual defense. Kirby didn't need defense. Kirby didn't need a shadowy protector. Because everything was perfect, everything was fine. Monsters never wanted to hurt Kirby, other creatures stood down with a simple 'poyo'..  
    And it's all thanks to eNeMeE. It's all thanks to eNeMeE, and Meta Knight never had a hand in it. He  _never_ would.  
    It wasn't out of jealousy or envy for being in Kirby's life more than himself. No, it wasn't. It was the idea that eNeMeE had done so much good for Kirby.. Meta Knight was having trouble truly believing Kirby's brainwashing was a bad thing. That's why he'd hoped for abuse, he realized, it's because he wanted a sign of something bad. A sign that this was bad.  
    But none came. None ever surfaced, not in these past months. None.  
    Meta Knight squeezed his eyes shut for moment before he turned away from the shenanigans. Like a shadow on the wall, Meta Knight traveled with no one really caring much or noticing his presence. Before he knew it, he was out of Cappytown and on the winding path back to the castle.  
    The slight wind of the countryside was pleasant, rustling his cape ever so slightly. Made him feel cool, and-  
    Meta Knight swung around, suddenly, hand gripping his sword. There was a grand total of zero things behind him, and after a moment he realized he'd just freaked out over nothing. He could've.. He could've sworn there was something there.  
    He felt like he was being watched.  
    "Hello? Show yourself.."  
    He questioned, but there was no answer. There was no noise, and the feeling of being watched didn't come from any particular direction. It was just.. There. Was he imagining things? Maybe. It could be the stress.. Or the fact that he hasn't slept in like, two days— thanks insomnia. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was probably just the sleep deprivation.  
    The feeling, though, it lingered all the way to the castle. It chilled him, really, because he'd felt it before. In the war, right before monster ambushes. It was never wrong in the past.. But it was wrong here, he guessed.  
    After entering the walls, passing some wandering and working Waddle Dees, he calmed down significantly. It was just a relaxed trip as he made his way to the courtyard fountain. As soon as he was sure he was alone, he pressed a button he'd kept on him at all times. The fountain shivered and split, water pouring into the new crack as it opened. It sort of looked like.. A pie chart with one piece missing, by the mechanism's end.  
    In its space was a staircase, going down.  
    He entered, pressing the button as soon as he was the proper distance, and the fountain closed over him as he descended. The staircase's lights glew, lighting up his way. At the bottom of the long tunnel was an metal industrial elevator, meant to hold hundreds of people and heavy objects at a time. It felt like a waste of energy, to just use it on one person, but.. Well, that's just how things were sometimes.  
    A simple descent, and Meta Knight was in the castle's bunker-esque basement. Unlike regular bunkers, though, this one did not store food or water or any sort of life. No, instead, it stored a construction. A construction lit up by gigantic lights more fit for a football stadium than a site. A construction still around.. Ninety percent complete, he'd say? An impressive one too, considering how there were only three people on the project.  
    The third person had just arrived, the other two were taking a lunch break.  
    "Eh, soroight, 'ave fun watchin' Kirby?"  
    Blade questioned, kicked back in his foldout chair that rested it's back flush to the wall. Sword, with the chair next to Blade, was more leaned forward, like he was ready to spring should something give him a reason to.  
    "Not exactly.."  
    "Somethin' wrong?"  
    Meta Knight's eyes turned green at the question, and he shifted uneasily before they returned to their default yellow.  
    "There is nothing wrong with Kirby, he's happy, I believe the problem is with me."  
    "..Somethin' wrong with ya?" Sword sounded curious, "Ya sad or..? Ya feel a cold coming on?"  
    It certainly didn't stray too far from being both.   
    "Yes, a cold.."  
    A cold, sweeping feeling of doubt and general confusion. Yes, a cold.


	8. Day 249

    Today's a beaaauutttiful day. Kirby inhaled the fresh air, exhaling in delight before squealing to himself. Tooodaaaay was the day! The best day! The day he's been waiting for! Man, it's been a long time coming, but today was the day! Today! Finally!   
    He squealed again to himself as he bounced along his path. He got up extra super early for today's fun events, and he was pretty happy he did. The dawn was something he didn't see all too often, and the pinks and yellow of the sky were just positively beautiful. Sure, they overshadowed the stars he loved, but the night would be back later, it's not like he'll miss out on it.  
    Regardless, the early morning colors shone beautifully on the ocean. Glimmering and sparkling, the sea water invited Kirby in for another look at what it had in store. Alas, today's not a day where he goes and sees Rainbow Coral Reef. Nope— sorry Kine.  
    Instead, he's here to visit a different friend. One he hasn't seen in a couple months. Kirby held his nubs to his mouth and blew, making a cacophony of fart-like noises; a pleasant call for all to hear. Truly a magnificent noise.  
    It took but a few awkward seconds of standing alone before a singular round thing burst from the water, gurgling happy as it floated up to Kirby. In the sun's light, they looked nearly neon red. It was a little hard on his eyes, but he hugged its tiny, more docile form with great glee.   
    "Pbpbppbptppbpbpbpttbppbpbpbpt!"  
    Octacon said, smooching Kirby on the head as a greeting. The two parted from the embrace, and Kirby could barely contain himself. This was gonna be so good. Today.. Today, the day. The day.   
    "Pbpbpttppbbbpbbpptt," Kirby thought he should start with a bit of a preface, "bpbptpptpbppbpbpbt. Pbpbpbtppttppppb."  
    "Pbpbpbpbbbbptptptttbb..?"  
    Kirby got a big smile at the question, and Octacon reciprocated with an almost sinister looking happy expression. Kirby nodded, and that got the point across more than well enough. Octacon seemed to take a deep breath, then.. They squeezed their eyes tightly shut and looked like they were yelling.  
    Kirby is confused at first, but then he remembers something faintly from his time on the fortress. Monsters can hear super high pitched noises, and monsters can also make super high pitched noises. Kirby was adopted, so he couldn't hear these noises. Chances are, they couldn't be heard by anyone else in Cappytown either.   
    This was a monster call. Silent, deadly, and shouted across the land in the early morning.   
    Beauty was everywhere. In the early chirps, the wind, the unheard noise, the pink sky, the glittering sea. The friends he'd made, the still slumbering bodies in town. But more importantly, there was beauty in Kirby's mind. For, in it, Kirby rejoiced.  
    Today would be the day of Meta Knight's death.  
    Octacon relaxed, opening their eyes once more, then chirped. Without a moment more, they retreated back into the ocean, most likely to get some breakfast before today's activities. Kirby should probably get some breakfast too..   
    Oof, it's hard to choose where he wants to eat nowadays. He could eat at Kawasaki's or at Monsieur Goan's, or just eat with all the Waddle Dees.. Eh, well, considering the day's activities, perhaps he should go eat at Goan's.  
    Wandering from the beach and into town was pleasant, and it was even more pleasant when he wandered on into the classy restaurant situated parallel to Kawasaki's homely one. No one was there due to.. Well, no one being awake yet. Though, as soon as Kirby headed through the door (with a slight ring of a bell), he heard stirring from within the kitchen.  
    Two loud groans echoed as Kirby headed into the dining area, debating on whether or not to take a seat. By the time someone came out, Kirby was seated, nubs papping excitedly against the white tablecloth of the round table.  
    "Kirby? What're you doing here so early?! We're trying to sleep!"  
    Ah, 'Chef Shiitake'. What an angry little onion-colored orb he was. Beneath that facade, though, was a monster by the name of Popon. Kirby was more than aware of the monster's shapeshifting abilities, as after Kirby had gotten him to stop working for Dedede, he'd admitted his identity to the pink orb. Kirby hid it with great secrecy. Not a single word came out of Kirby's mouth about it.  
    "Poyoy? O-Occ.. Octaa.. Poyy??"  
    "Of course I heard the call! What do you think we are, deaf!? I bet every monster across the planet heard that blasted call!"  
    Oh, good. Kirby was worried for a moment there.  
    "Getting everyone together for one big hurrah. Yeah, I heard it loud and clear."  
    Shiitake wandered on over, pulling a notepad and pencil out from his chef's hat. He looked quite disenthused about having to take orders this early, and Kirby could tell by Shiitake's unfocused eyes that he'd basically been woken up when Kirby pushed that door open.  
    "Other than that I bet you're here to eat, of course.."  
    He grumbled, flipping the notebook open. Kirby smiled and nodded, aware but somehow completely naive to how much trouble he was putting Shiitake through for this.  
    "Poyoyo, poy.. Poy."  
    Kirby tapped at the table like it were a drum, and Shiitake scribbled down Kirby's order. After a long silence, Shiitake retreated back into the kitchen. Kirby could hear arguing in languages he didn't understand, before pure, monstrous growls and snarls erupted behind those closed doors. Kirby just smiled and waited, listening as the bickering settled down into nothing.  
    It was a little bit of time before Kirby's breakfast came out, brought by Shiitake again. It was fifteen eggs stacked ontop of eachother like a big tower. Egg tower. A good breakfast, in Kirby's opinion. He poyoed gleefully as it made its way over to his table.  
    As soon as it was set down, Kirby dug in. Though, he noticed Shiitake trying to take his leave.  
    "Poooyyyyyy.."  
    Kirby pointed at the chair besides his own, as a request to have the chef stay. There's a grumble before Shiitake eventually submitted, hopping up onto the somewhat tall seat and sitting comfortably.   
    "You know I'm not going to actually go out and fight Meta Knight, right? I'm supposed to be a chef, I'm not going to shed my disguise for something like this."  
    Aw.. Well, it made sense. Regardless, Kirby had befriended enough monsters in order to have a nice little group to take Meta Knight down with. Doesn't matter if Shiitake— or Goam by proxy of friendship— weren't there among them.   
    "Poyoy," Kirby was muffled by the egg in his mouth, "poyo. Poyoo."  
    "Hmph. All you really need to help you get rid of that blueberry is Kirisakin and Wolfwrath together. Not even Meta Knight would be able to stand up to them."  
    "Poyo."  
    Kirby smiled at the idea of seeing his two fuzzy pals again, and on such a momentous occasion too.. Maybe Kirby could give them both victory pats once it was all over!  
    "..Let me guess, you're going back to big blanket after this is all done, aren't you?"  
    What sort of question was that? Of course Kirby was going back to Ma. To see Ma in real life again.. That's all Kirby ever desired. To hug Ma's big, steel face.. Or hands. Hands were fine too.  
    Kirby nodded.  
    "Well, I'm not saying I'll miss you, but I know the fat frenchie in the kitchen will."  
    This is Shiitake speak for 'I will definitely miss you'. Which Kirby took a moment to actually process. If he left Cappytown, he'd be leaving all the monsters he'd befriended too.. Along with Tiff and Tuff. The realization hit him like a bullet-train; so hard and quick that it even got him to stop eating his eggs for a quick second.  
    If he left.. Would Kirby ever get the chance to see any of them again? He regarded all his monster friends fondly, and everyone in Cappytown was really nice.. Plus, he'd thought of Tiff and Tuff as some nice care-taking friends. Sure, Kirby could always go and get more monster friends, but what about everyone else? Not everyone could be replaced with a wave of Ma's hand, and even then, that couldn't replace memories he had with individual monsters..  
    "Poy.."  
    Kirby swallowed the egg, swallowing his thoughts too. Just like the stomach ache he was sure to get from eating all these eggs at once, Kirby shoved his problems off. It would be a issue future him would have to deal with.  
  


* * *

  
  
    It was around mid-afternoon when everyone had arrived. Kirby only knew this because the earth started to shake in a way that suggested footsteps. That and Tiff was getting pretty anxious. So, forced to stop their lesson at DDD Academy, everyone was let out early. To pick Kirby up were two gigantic robots that were basically identical.  
    Masher and Masher (but with wings), stoic and just as tall as the schoolhouse itself, loomed like gigantic towers. Very telling of the day's events. Kirby poyoed and ran up to them, jubilant when the one lacking wings lowered their hand for the puff to climb up onto. Kirby was essentially elevator-ed up onto their shoulder, where he sat and dangled his feet off Masher's side.  
    "Kirby, what's going on? Why are the Mashers here?"  
    Tiff called out to Kirby, cupping her mouth with her hands to try and be louder than she already was. Kirby just smiled and waved down to her like nothing important was happening. Just another regular day with Kirby! Nothing's wrong, especially not.  
    It's completely normal for both Squishy and Octacon to be off in the distance, huge, and straddling Castle Dedede with their tentacles. It's also very normal for Kracko's storm clouds to be in the sky, cracking and distantly thundering. It's normal for that long path of fire to be heading towards town, along with those multiple dust trails. It's normal for the volcano to be erupting. It's normal for thorny vines to be growing out of the woods and moving like snakes. It's normal for droves of orange-ish blobs to be coming from the trees as well. It's very normal. Yes.  
    The screams of the citizens in Cappytown aren't normal, however, and Kirby doesn't really like the sound of it. It'll be over soon, though. Yeah.. Over.   
    It'll be.. Over.  
    Kirby was really regretting keeping his problems for later. Because now? Now it's later. Now Kirby out here, thinking about what's going to happen after Meta Knight gets eviscerated. Kirby knew that monsters stayed on the planet they were sent to, they rarely if ever came back.. But maybe once Ma sees how much all of Kirby's monster friends have helped him, they could all come with?  
    But the transporter might not be able to send everyone back.. Ugh. Kirby'll think of something later! Laaater! Not right now! He doesn't wanna think about stuff like this right now, he's got bigger orbs to squish!  
    Speaking of orbs to squish, it seems like the orb in question has just left the castle, telling from Octacon and Squishy's reactions.. Plus all the tentacles being severed by sword beams. Yeah.. Gross. There's also the fact that lightning is being struck by the castle outsides, a tell-tale sign of when Kracko had homed in on their target.  
    The Mashers were lumbering and relatively slow if they walked, but when they ran, oh man they shook the ground so hard that it threatened to crack. To be riding one of them whilst they ran was a bumpy, but still pretty fun experience.  
    The other trails that signified creatures all headed for where Kracko continuously pointed out, and oh man, the arrival. When Kirby and all his fifty or so of friends had rounded up and encircled Meta Knight.. It was quite the glorious sight. Kirby looked down at Meta Knight like the monster was pleading for his life infront of a all-powerful king.  
    That's how Kirby felt. All powerful. Well liked, loved, and with an army of friends at his command that would happily sick anyone who dared to cross Kirby's path with so much as a 'poyo'. Meta Knight suddenly seemed to realize this as looked up at the pink puff with constricted eyes. He was scared. So scared that he even momentarily dropped his golden sword, realizing just how much absolute trouble he was in. There was a small fumble on his part before he picked it back up again.  
    Kirby smiled, scanning the circle. He looked at bared teeth, furrowed brows, sharpened blades, bristling fur, and drawn weapons. He saw sadistic toothy smiles and furious frowns. Kirby looked back at the knight, whose eyes had gone back to normal.   
    Kirby pointed to him.  
    "Poyo."  
    With just that, a brawl broke out. Fireballs flung, swords clashed, and gigantic weapons swung. Kirby's friends were all coordinated. They'd never get hit by friendly fire. This meant Meta Knight could go from being blasted by fire to getting electrocuted, then getting bashed with a club within a matter of seconds. It was nothing less than a onesided beatdown.  
    Kirby saw Meta Knight try to run, only to be pulled back in for further bodily reconstruction.  
    Every single second was like pure heaven. Long and beautiful, like Kirby was witnessing pure art take place infront of him. There was nothing sweeter, nothing better.. No, nothing better than a horrible person getting exactly what they deserved.  
    Kirby noticed how Galaxia was far from Meta Knight's reach. He got a funny idea. Well, less so funny as it would be ironic.  
    "Kiri, poyo? Poyo?"  
    Kirby called over the fighting for Kirisakin, giving the order, which they more than happily obeyed. Kirisakin forced their way to Meta Knight, who'd just gotten finished with being zapped by Kracko again, and pinned him down. By stabbing through his arms and into the dirt. Meta Knight didn't cry out, instead he let out a low scream that sounded more like a squeak than anything.  
    "Poyoy.."  
    Kirby floated off Masher, giving lots of time for the monsters to reform their circle. Kirby inhaled the golden sword, and after a quick transformation sequence, adorned a elf-like green cap. He held the blade in his nubs like he was examining it, before he toddled to the thoroughly beaten knight.  
    "Poyo? Poyoy, poyo?"  
    Kirby questioned. Sure, it was sorta cliche to ask what someone's last words were, but.. Well, Kirby sorta likes the trope. Meta Knight apparently isn't a big fan of it, though, and he stayed absolutely silent.   
    Kirby giggled to himself, poking at Meta Knight's head with Galaxia's jutting spikes. The gashes left by Galaxia in the knight's head didn't leak. Meta Knight winced with each cut.  
    "Poyokay."  
    Kirby rose Galaxia high, preparing to slice. He let the wind rustle, a second or so pass. Just make sure no ex-machinas would come by and stop him right as he was about to do Meta Knight in for good. Satisfied, Kirby-  
    "Kirby!!"  
     _ **UGH**_.  
    Kirby swung around to see Tiff flying right at him. Like, she looked like she was about to jump tackle him. Not everyone in the circle was too happy with this. One particular member by the name of Bugzzy was one of those, and they grabbed Tiff by the ponytail and yanked her back before she even had a chance to hit Kirby (or the ground, for that matter). She was forced down.  
    "Ow! Let go of me!!"  
    Tiff yelled, fighting against Bugzzy's hold. The big bug was much stronger than her, though, and their grip was positively firm. Kirby resisted the temptation to roll his eyes at the spectacle.  
    "Kirby! Stop! Don't do this!"  
    Kirby frowned at her demand, giving her a look that said 'are you being serious right now'. Tiff should know him well enough that by now, he was on his mission and would stop at nothing to complete it.  
    "If you hurt him, you hurt me too!"  
    ..That's not how physical harm works?  
    "If y-you hurt Meta Knight, if you- if you do this, then you're going to be destroying my trust in you too! And everybody else in Cappytown's too! They'll never see you the same way again, so stop!!"  
    Tiff continued, still trashing. Her words, though spoken through voice crack, stung Kirby. The idea of losing that many friends.. It hurt. Chances were he was going to lose them anyways, but.. He'd lose Tiff too..? And Tuff?  
    "If you hurt him, you hurt me because I like him! If you hurt him, you hurt Tuff because he looks up to Meta Knight! If you hurt him, you hurt Sword and Blade because they're training under him! If you hurt him, you hurt everyone in Cappytown because they all respect and adore him! You'll betray everyone!"  
    Everyone?  
    "If you hurt him, Kirby," Tiff suddenly stopped struggling, her narrowed eyes brimming with tears, "I'll never forgive you."  
    Kirby dropped Galaxia, his hat poofing away as he did so. Tiff would hate him.. Forever? Tiff would hate him.. No, Kirby doesn't want Tiff to hate him, he just wants to go back to Ma..!  
    "None of our time together will mean anything to me, or anyone else, and everyone will see you as a monster. Just as much as a monster as you think Meta Knight is."  
    There's some slight gasps from a few of Kirby's friends. Kirby was silent until he broke it with a sniffle from his nonexistant orb nose. Was this.. Was Kirby really comparable as Meta Knight, someone who'd harmed so many? That couldn't be right.. Meta Knight had harmed dozens, and Kirby was harming him in return, as righteous karma.  
    But why does this illogical argument, saying that the victim is just as bad as the abuser for lashing back, why does it hurt Kirby so? Perhaps it's the threat behind it. The threat of losing friends.  
    "Listen to me, Kirby! If you- listen. If you stop this right now and never bother Meta Knight again, we call it a truce, we'll stay friends!"  
    Stay friends.. Call it a truce.. Never bother Meta Knight again..  
    Ma..  
    Kirby internally sends his apologies. He's going to have to come home even later than he expected.


	9. Day 674

    "If you'd stop poking at it, you'll forget it's there."  
    Tiff said, all too motherly as usual. She'd told Kirby this exact statement every day for the past.. Well, a while. But still, Kirby just couldn't get used to it! It wasn't nice on his tiny orb body!  
    The thing in question was a sort of 'shoulder strap'-esque band which wrapped around his nub. It had a rectangular part on it which went upwards from the band; sorta like how there's the wrappy part of a watch and the actual clock part of the watch. It was like that, except there wasn't a watch for telling time on Kirby. Rather, it was just a rectangle with a slowly pulsating green light on it. Pretty sturdy thing it was, too— Kirby had tried bashing it against rocks and all sorts of things, but it never broke.  
    Kirby wasn't all too sure what the thing did, but what he did know was that it didn't feel nice to have on. Which is why he picked at it any opportunity he could. Tiff would eventually stop harping on him about it, so he could pick at it to his tiny heart's delight.  
    It was a nice distraction from things— poking at the strap. Like the way that Cappys didn't even notice Kirby anymore, or how some, like Tuggle (the convenience store owner) enjoyed glaring down at Kirby like it were their brand new hobby. No one said anything about it, Tiff didn't even defend Kirby from the glares anymore.  
    Even now as they walked through the linoleum isles, Tuggle's narrowed eyes on Kirby, Tiff and Tuff said nothing whilst fully knowing of the clerk's displeasure. Kirby just gave a soft look back, winced slightly from the gaze, then turned back to the not-so-hateful gaze of the chip isle. The watch was awfully suspicious of Kirby, and he felt like he was being treated like a criminal.   
    He didn't even do anything wrong, and Tuggle was looking at him with such sneering, hateful eyes.   
    Was there something wrong with vengeance? With proper and just actions? Was there something wrong with bone-smashing karma, with payment in the form of absolute obliteration? Tuggle thought so. So did Chief Bookum, Mabel, the mayor, and a bunch of other people too.   
    Kirby couldn't stand it. He's not going to stand this insult. He'd made a truce with Tiff to not bother Meta Knight because this result was exactly what he didn't want. Had he known people would hate him no matter what he chose, he would've gone with what he was originally going to do. Instead he got grounded for a month and got his reputation destroyed regardless.  
    Kirby scowled and grabbed a nearby chocolate bar, then another, then another. He promptly spun to look directly back at Tuggle, and chucked the three bars at the hateful, demeaning Cappy. Kirby's aim— thanks to his training from Yamikage back on the fortress— was impeccable. All three bars hit their target; right between Tuggle's eyes.  
    The Cappy let out a loud cry of pain, smacking onto the shiny floor behind the counter, drawing Kirby's caretakers attention.  
    "Kirby!" Tiff shouted, tone becoming one of scolding, "Don't throw candy bars at people! You already have a bad enough reputation as is!"  
    Oh, really? No, really? Kirby thought he was just the most liked pink orb in town with the way people scowled at him every single day! Thanks Tiff, he totally didn't know he had a bad reputation! Thanks!  
    "He's just a bit angry because everyone else keeps frowning at him."  
    Tuff defended, turning Tiff's attention onto him.  
    "That's not an excuse to throw stuff at people, Tuff! You're just encouraging him!"  
    "Well-"  
    There's some noise by the counter that interrupts Tuff.  
    "Get out of here!"   
    Tuggle had got back onto his feet, now with a nice mark on his face where the flying candy bars had hit.   
    "You take Kirby and get out of my store before I get out a broom and make him leave!"  
    Yeah, just get out the broom so Kirby can inhale it and beat your sorry-  
    Tiff grabbed Kirby's nub, huffed, then stomped out with Tuff staying behind to grab the snacks they were trying to buy in the first place. Kirby felt sort of abandoned by his only friend who didn't nag him about every little thing, but he had to have faith that Tuff would be back soon.  
    After Tiff exited the store (with the glass doors sliding closed behind her) she basically whirled Kirby in front of her and gave the stern look of 'you're in trouble' that Kirby was oh-so used to and oh-so numb to.  
    "Kirby, you do not throw candy bars at people, do you understand?"  
    Kirby stared blankly back.  
    "Kirby," she began to sound more agitated, "do I make myself clear?"  
    "I think pinky over here can't hear ya anymore because you buzz in his ear more often than a mosquito!"  
    Oh great, and here comes a mosquito now. Tokkori, appearing from the sky, decided to join the two's conversation. His wings beating as quickly as a hummingbird would, he floated there. Kirby had a foul taste in his mouth.  
    "I'm trying to scold him-"  
    "And you're doing a pretty bad job at it! Kids nowadays don't respect girlies who just stand there and yell at em! What you have to do is a little bit of physical punishment! That's what gets the message through!"  
    Tokkori wasted absolutely no time, flying directly into Kirby's face. Kirby reacted instantly as well, inhaling the bird before he had the chance to peck the heck out of Kirby's soft orb body.   
    "Hey! Let me out!"  
    "Kirby, no! Spit him out!"  
    Ugh.  
    Kirby did as he was told, spitting Tokkori onto the floor like a gigantic loogie. Whilst Kirby didn't get any actual spit onto Tokkori, the bird certainly acted like it, flicking off his wings and making a plethora of 'ew' noises. Kirby now had a fowl taste in his mouth.  
    When he got airborne again was when the problems began.  
    "Alright, that's it pinky! You asked for it!"  
    Now he's being pecked. Kirby cried out and ran, Tokkori following quickly after and pecking at Kirby's soft backside with all the furiousness of an angry hornet. Each peck propelled him to run faster, no matter how much Tiff yelled distantly at Kirby to do the exact opposite.  
    Kirby ran, ran, and ran. He even ran out of town, seeking refuge in Whispy Wood's forest. But even there, Tokkori followed. Kirby dove into bushes only for Tokkori to peck him, then hid in tree knots only for the same to occur. He set up branches to whip back and hit Tokkori in the face, but they either didn't work or didn't deter the yellow menace for long.  
    Kirby felt like he might as well just give up and let Tokkori peck him to his heart's delight, until a thorned vine shot out from the earth and smacked Tokkori into a tree so forcefully that the bird was out cold as soon as he'd hit it. He gave out a quite less then eloquent squawk as he was hit, and a pleasant on the ears 'hh' as he slid to the ground unconscious.  
    Kirby waddled back, looking at the defenseless bird, fighting off his impulsive thoughts of just eating Tokkori whole right here and now, where there's no witnesses and no one to question him. But he thinks about it for a second and realizes that Tiff would probably question him about it and decides against it. Instead, he's just going to go over and pet the vine that saved him.  
    It's a familiar plant indeed, and it lightly taps Kirby on the head before retreating back into the ground.  
    Just a bit of wandering through the woods and Kirby wandered into a small clearing where his planet friend was.  
    "Wovewy, poy!"  
    Kirby chirped, waving up to the picture-pretty flower known as Lovely. She'd grown quite a bit, now taller than the dead tree she'd had her vines ensnare. She smiled widely at Kirby's arrival, leaning down from her perch to give Kirby a big smooch on the forehead.  
    "Kirby, darling, you really should visit more often, you know!"  
    Her vines split from the ground once more, picking Kirby up so that way she didn't have to lean down to talk to him. She held him with only one vine, just having him sit upon the thick root proving to be more than optimal.  
    "How is everything for everyone's favorite little gumball?"  
    Kirby gripped onto the cartoonish red thorns and frowned, not meeting the big flower's eyecontact. Silence was telling, and she was listening with all ears.  
    "Those ugly Cappies giving you a hard time, hmm? Well, cheer up, my little gumball."  
    She used her spare vine to direct Kirby's eyes back onto her. She had a nice big smile, like she knew something that Kirby didn't.  
    "You won't have to deal with them for a while. Our beautiful creator gave all nearby monsters a wonderful dream last night, telling us that if we saw you, to tell you to go to the big castle and wait in the courtyard. Something special is going to happen, and you're going to love it."  
    She booped him right above his mouth and between his eyes, making him 'poy' and wiggle a little bit.   
  


* * *

  
  
    "Kirbyyy!"  
    "Kiiiirby! Where are ya?!"  
    Tiff knew she shouldn't have waited for Tuff to come out of the store to continue chasing after Kirby. Now she had absolutely no clue where Kirby was. Had she just kept out the entire time, she probably would've been able to catch up to him and Tokkori.  
    No matter how much she and Tuff cupped their hands over their mouths in an attempt to yell louder, no matter how loud they called, Kirby didn't answer. It was a tad bit.. Unnerving.   
    Especially when Tiff remembered that this forest now had a host of monsters residing within it. Sure, they stayed there peacefully, but they were still there anyways. The Scarfies in here certainly weren't friendly, so wandering into the woods nowadays generally wasn't a good idea. Without Kirby by her side to calm all the carniverous blobs down.. Tiff didn't wanna think about it.  
    "What if he already went home?"  
    Tiff shook her head at Tuff's suggestion.  
    "He couldn't have, we probably would've seen him come out. Or at least saw Tokkori come out or something.. I'm just worried something might've happened."  
    She was less so worried about Kirby than she was with Tokkori. He just flew into a monster infested forest, chasing after an orb that can swallow him whole and more than likely would not stop himself from doing so.  
    "Sis, what happened to that Kirby tracking device? You put that thing on him for a reason, right?"  
    Oh, right! Her tracking device! How could she have forgotten? Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out-  
    ...  
    "..I left the tracker at home."  
    She admitted, sheepish, Tuff instantly groaning from her lack of attentiveness.   
    "Guess we'll have to just keep looking, then.. Kiiirbyy!"  
    She called out once more, wandering further into the unforgiving wilderness with her brother. Maybe it would've been a good idea to bring some supplies for this, but.. Well, they weren't staying out there very long, so.  
    Another five minutes with no results left Tuff pretty annoyed by the whole situation.  
    "I wanna go home, Kirby can fend for himself."  
    "Tuff! What about Tokkori?"  
    "Yeah, what about him? He's a jerk."  
    Okay, Tuff had a point, but still! They can't just leave Tokkori in a forest full of monsters!  
    "Didn't you say he caused all of this anyways? Lets just go back to the castle and get that tracker, then you can come back and grab Kirby."  
    Of course Tuff wasn't coming on the return trip. He's sorta lazy.  
    "Fine.."  
    Tiff sighed, turning around and immediately tripping over a root she swore wasn't there before. Tuff got a quick giggle at her expense, which he got a nice glare in return for.  
    "Oh yeah, real funny."  
    Tiff rolled her eyes, getting up. Well, she would've gotten up, had the root not wrapped around her ankle and held her in the air like some sort of used napkin. She cried out in astonishment, flailing as she was lifted.  
    "Hey! Let go of my sister!"  
    Tuff shouted from down below, grabbing a nearby stick and bashing at the green root with all his force. Unfortunately, it didn't do much, and another root snuck up behind him and repeated the entire process with Tuff as well.  
    "This sucks."  
    Tuff aired, crossing his arms as he hung upside down beside his sis. Before they knew it, they were both tossed up into the air and grabbed once more by their respective roots. This time they'd ensnared the two children around the chest and stomach areas, restraining their arms and hands to their sides.  
    The forest began to whiz past the two as they were pulled along unwittingly to whatever was controlling these roots. Tiff and Tuff both struggled, of course, but it was to no avail. They were trapped, and they couldn't do anything about it. They were at the mercy of whatever waited for them.  
    When Tiff saw who their captor was, her nose wrinkled in disgust.  
    "Lovely."  
    She spat, narrowing her eyes at the gigantic weed who'd sapped all the energy out of Whispy Woods. Only a shell remained now, which she'd wrapped her entire body around like a snake. A withered husk of a once kind and soft mannered sentient tree.. Tiff could swear she heard soft wheezing from it, but that could've just been the wind.  
    "Why thank you. I can't say the same about you, though."  
    Lovely's appearance grew a tad bit more sharp, her petals ever so slightly more angular than they were before she spoke. Her teeth glinted, showing their sharpness through her grin.  
    "You two are  _quite_ repulsive to look at when you don't have Kirby around."  
    "Where is he!? Did you take him somewhere!?"  
    "But you know what would make you look all the nicer? Some vines wrapped around you for.. Hm, I'd say around fifteen or so minutes? Yes, you'd look just positively beautiful after that."  
    "Wh-"  
    Before more answers could be demanded, Lovely wrapped vines around Tiff's entire face, covering her eyes and mouth. She felt the vines around her body tighten and she wheezed from the sensation of her lungs being painfully crushed. She heard the same wheezes from Tuff, confirming that Lovely was doing the same thing to her brother as well.  
    "Silent and still children are truly the most cute ones." She giggled, venomous. "Be cute for now. You'll get to see your answers for yourself soon enough."  
  


* * *

  
  
    Kirby sat on the courtyard fountain, splashing the water with his nubs as he waited. Ma was sending Kirby a gift, Lovely said so. He had to stay out here for however long it took for Ma's gift to arrive.  
    As he stopped splashing the water, he looked down into his reflection. The reflection of a soft pink orb, who most of the townspeople hated and ignored. The reflection of a orb who wanted retribution but never could get it. The reflection of someone he thought Ma would never like to see again.  
    Kirby wiped his eyes, and kept splashing. He only stopped when he saw the water's surface get a tad bit darker in its reflection. Infact, everything got a bit darker. Like a cloud was blocking the sun or something. Only difference was that Kirby saw this 'cloud' in the fountain's water. He saw it's greys and blues.   
    He turned his head up to confirm his suspicions.  
    A Destroya hovered over the castle, casting a gigantic shadow onto the ground below it. Its trim glowed a bright cyan, its glow spiderwebbing across the bottom of the Destroya, all the way to the center of the machine. There, it became white, then turned into a laser. Which, well, shot directly at Kirby. It hit more than easily, but.. It didn't destroy anything.   
    Confused as he lowered his nubs from his face, he felt his feet leave the fountain's edge. Kirby floated inside the laser, not of his own accord. Kirby instantly realized what this was all about, and immediately took advantage of the situation.  
    Being in a tractor beam meant that Kirby could roll around and do a bunch of somersaults no problem. He could also dance with no concern for gravity. Both of these things he did, all the way until he was inside of the ship's weapon bay.   
    A snake-like alien was there to pick Kirby up as he'd arrived. They were like a snake in the sense that their head was a snake, and their body was a snake, but they had a big chest and arms like a bodybuilder. They lifted Kirby up like a basketball and slithered all the way to disc ship's bridge.   
    When Kirby arrived in the bridge (which looked straight out of a modern day sci-fi movie), he was met with a chorus of 'aaawwww's and babyish noises from the crew who'd looked back to see him.   
    Kirby's feet didn't even touch the ground. He was passed around the entire crew like some sort of interesting animal, with everyone taking a turn to hold him and pet him. Not that Kirby was complaining, of course. He poyoed from the physical attention, hugging back and patting back as often as he could.  
    Kirby had gotten a glance at the digital clock at one of the piloting terminals. He noted its time. By the time he got back around to the clock again, it was ten minutes later. Kirby figured that might be enough petting for a bit, as Ma was sometimes a bit impatient, it'd be better to go sooner rather than later.  
    "Ma, poy! Go!"  
    Kirby squeaked, and the entire crew seemed to realize what Kirby was talking about, scuttling about and talking to eachother in weird, panciky technobabble jargon he didn't particularly understand. Kirby just got to sat in one of the crew member's laps as they tapped at the holographic screen, moving it about quickly and tapping on symbols in a very specific manner.  
    Before long, the ship hovered and slingshot into space multiple times faster than light.  
    Kirby was going home.


	10. FORTRESS Day 974

    Docking back on the fortress was nothing less than exciting. Kirby practically ran out of the Destroya and into the bay as soon as he got the chance. He flung himself out onto the ground, papping at the floor wildly for all to see. He could hear some chuckles from those watching, but he didn't particularly care.  
    He was home.  
    "Big blanky needs to be told about this."  
    "Yeah, go call brownnose."  
    The exiting pilots were over there talking as Kirby made himself nice and reacquainted with the floor of the bay. If being back in here was this nice, just imagine what it'd be like when he was back in the command center! Oh boy..  
    Just as he was going to get up, Kirby was lifted up by the unnamed snake-person from earlier and taken away from the docking station to the more reasonable seating area. There, he was placed on a backless plastic-metal bench.  
    "Don't go anywhere."  
    The snake hissed, promptly slithering off from the bay and down one of the hallways with the rest of the crew Kirby'd been escorted by. Kirby wiggled in place like an electric toothbrush left switch on whilst sitting ontop of a counter. He really couldn't contain himself, he was restless.  
    Kirby got up from the bench not but a minute of wiggling later. If he was just supposed to sit in the bay.. That meant he could go anywhere in the bay, couldn't it? He could go see the ships, go talk to people in the meantime. He was a kid; he needed to be wandering about and talking to people, not just sitting still!  
    So wander about Kirby did. None of the pilots Kirby went up to really paid all too much attention to him until he poyoed, in which they gave him a coo and a pat on the head. Kirby was of course prevented from entering any more Destroyas, not that he exactly wanted to go back in one anyways.  
    As he walked around the bay and docks, he found one ship that looked different from all the others. One that was faintly familiar, one he hadn't seen in maybe at least a couple years. It stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the Destroyas on either side of it. It was small and yellow, and wasn't even a disc. It was Kirby's old starship.  
    Man, he hadn't seen this thing in a while! Kirby poyoed giddily as he crawled onto and into it, indulging in nostalgia for nostalgia's sake. As he sat in it, enjoying the old smell of his ship, he noticed the glove box slightly ajar. Pulling it open, Kirby found the box relatively empty.. Except for a singular box. Yes. A box inside a box.  
    Kirby pulled the smaller box out of the ship's box. It looked like one of those boxes that someone would use to propose to another with. One with a ring inside. So, opening it, when Kirby found that there was no ring inside this box, he was somewhat dissapointed. Instead, there was a bright yellow star, glimmering ever so slightly.  
    Kirby's face grew into a smile, and looking at this little star, Kirby thought of showing Ma this little star whenever he came around. Closing the box once more, Kirby exited his spaceship with his coming-home gift in tow. Hopefully this would make Ma less dissapointed in him..  
    Just as Kirby was heading away from his ship, he heard something strange. It was a really dangerous noise, he didn't know how else to describe it. The sound of something busting down walls-  
    Before Kirby could react, a gigantic thing burst through into the docks, bursting through the protective metal that separated the insides of the bay from the vacuum of space. Which, well, as soon as it was penetrated and compromised, that vacuum created a great windstorm that pulled Kirby into the outsides of the docks along with multiple other employees and furniture.  
     Kirby, thankfully, could breathe in space, so it wasn't too big of a deal. What was big of a deal was that he was slingshot against the rest of thing that had burst into the docks, which didn't feel very nice.  
    As it turned out, a gigantic and long ship had crashed into the bay, and he had just smacked against one of its giant main canons. It felt like he had stubbed his entire body against a metal bed outcropping. Not nice.  
    Kirby nearly lost his grip on his little box too! Also not nice!   
    He floated around out there, looking at the other employees who were flailing around before slowing to a stop, and the others that just kept flailing. Yeah, pretty surprising that a big ol ship just came crashing on through, right? Yeah.  
    He pushed off from the canon he'd struck, and was just about ready to go back into the bay before he was just pushed back out by the wind vacuum. Kirby puffed to himself, pretty displeased that he was stuck out in space until Ma would get him, but whatever.  
    What Kirby was also displeased with was also that he was grabbed. By someone he didn't like too much; Meta Knight. Kirby put his box into one of his hands and promptly began to smack furiously at the knight, trying to poke out Meta Knight's eyes with all of his tiny pink might. Where Meta Knight came from Kirby had no clue, but he wasn't happy. Kirby would try to inhale Meta Knight for the offense, but his inhale didn't work in space— since there wasn't enough oxygens and carbons to move in a whirlwind or whatever the reasoning was.  
    Meta Knight somehow managed to survive Kirby's vicious poking, and forced Kirby alongside him into the intruding ship. Meta Knight, as soon as he was able to, snatched the box Kirby was carrying, and shoved Kirby to the floor of the ship's hallway.  
    Kirby noted the presence of air and gravity on this ship, and also noted how Meta Knight immediately ran after he shoved Kirby over. Kirby, offended, rolled to his feet and gave chase. Meta Knight rounded a corner, and Kirby rounded it soon after, immediately smacking into someone as he did so.  
    "Thank goodness you never took off that tracking device, I knew it'd come in handy."  
    It was Tiff. She hugged the slightly overwhelmed Kirby, picking him up so he couldn't continue his chase.  
    "Kirby, just a consideration, maybe next time don't sick your monster friends on us? Sword Knight and Blade Knight could barely cut us loose from Lovely's vines."  
    Oh, Tuff's standing right next to her. Lovely attacked Tiff and Tuff, though? Er, well, it sounded like she ensnared them.. Totally new info to Kirby, he didn't hear of this.  
    "Kirby, what were you thinking, just going and running off?"  
    "POYUUUGH."  
    Kirby groaned, struggling furiously in Tiff's hold. He really didn't want to answer her questions when Meta Knight literally assaulted him! Kirby's got a marauder to murder!   
    "Don't poyugh at me, Kirby..!"  
    Tiff started off stern, then sighed.  
    "Maybe he just wanted an interstellar vacation, it's where he came from, right? Space?"  
    "Tuff, he got abducted by a gigantic spaceship and Lovely stopped us from preventing it, it's obviously more than that; something else is going on here!"  
    Ma just wants to see Kirby again. It's no big deal. Kirby stopped caring about the conversation and tuned it out as Tiff and Tuff continued their irrelevant banter all the way to the ship's bridge, where Meta Knight and the other two knights were.   
    The ship pulled out of the bay it'd punctured, and flew off amongst the fortress's tall skyscrapers, blasting Destroyas out of the sky with its canons. Watching them explode and remains drop like they were nothing but dust.  
    Here's a question.  
    Have you ever felt like a spectator in your own actions? That what's happening actually isn't, and is just some sort of projection on a screen? That nothing's real, that things are only happening because they must due to the plot of whatever's taking place?   
    That's how Kirby felt these past couple of minutes. A watcher. A person simply gazing from the sidelines of his own life.   
    Everything was just an event, happening before him, that he felt he had no place in. The disillusionment with reality had made these hours a blur. Like they'd all happened in a minute, that it was over just moments after it'd begun. Kirby wasn't sure as to why it felt like this, why nothing felt real or like it was actually happening, but..  
    He was only snapped out of it when the Halberd had managed to pierce through into the fortress's walls. The familiar sights of the ship hallways, their largeness made to hold even the most gigantic of Destroyas, and more importantly.. Ma. He'd appeared infront of the ship like a ghost, fading into existence with a strange aura around him.  
    Kirby slapped himself against the bridge's windshield as soon as he could, gazing up at Ma with an overwhelming feeling of homesickness that he'd forgotten he had. He wanted to be in Ma's hand. Right now. To be lightly tapped on the top of his head by Ma's metal finger because Ma didn't want to bother to shrink down to fully pet Kirby.  
    "You've made a mistake coming here, Meta Knight."  
    Ma had a gigantic smile on his face, just like Kirby remembered him to. Kirby felt Tiff's hands suddenly grab at him, tugging him ever so slightly off the windshield; like Kirby was blocking the view for everyone else or something.  
    "You and your puny band of 'Star Warriors' pose no threat to me."  
    Oh, right.. There's some other random people fighting Ma as well. Like, Kirby had never seen them before, but Meta Knight seemed to know them.   
    "Challenging me is like challenging Kirby," Ma looked especially snide, "it is the last mistake you'll ever make."  
    Like something unlocked in his mind, Kirby poyoed and looked back at Meta Knight. It was a glare, Kirby made. He wanted to forget about the truce they had. He wanted to destroy Meta Knight, now, infront of Ma. To throw Meta Knight into the void right before Ma's very eyes, and be praised for the rest of eternity for doing him so proud.  
    But before Kirby could do much of anything, he heard Ma chuckle. A quick glance told Kirby that Ma was retreating backwards, floating down into a more closed hallway than the white room they were currently in.  
    "Follow him!"  
    Meta Knight commanded, speaking like an idiot in all sense of the term.  
    "Ain't that like.. A bad idea?"  
    Sword piped, and a silence washed the room.   
    "..Perhaps it is.."  
    Meta Knight mumbled, sheepish as he shifted ever so slightly.  
    "Hmm.. A moment of thought would be useful.."  
    Meta Knight suddenly hummed, his cape shifting as he pulled out the box he'd stolen from Kirby earlier. He opened it up, examining its contents with green eyes. He retrieved its contents and held up what was within for all to see.  
    "This is the Warp Star," the star glittered between Meta Knight's mitten, giving off an ethereal warm glow that almost invited Kirby to go over and snatch it back, "and it is Kirby's. It can only be called upon by someone who truly loves and cares for Kirby."  
    An awkward silence.  
    "B-But," Meta Knight stumbled from the strange silence before continuing, "it has another use.. Which we'll need to utilize. If Kirby sucks this up, then he will be able to create a powerful object known as the Star Rod."  
    "Hehehe,  _rod_."  
    Tuff giggled, earning a light slap on the shoulder from his sister.   
    "The Star Rod? Meta Knight, what's that?"  
    Tiff asked, sounding like she was trying to cover for her brother's childish 'joke'.  
    "It's a magical item, and it is eNeMeE's only weakness. It can defeat him in an instant if used properly. Without this, there would be no way to stop him, and he would rule on for all eternity, unopposed until someone found a new way to create one. It is imperative that he is defeated."  
    Tiff gasped in horror at the explanation, but Kirby didn't see anything wrong with the latter part of it.  
    "So, it's very important that it is not broken or-" just as Meta Knight is explaining, Dedede suddenly comes out of nowhere, snatching the star from Meta's mitt. He's trailed by Escargoon, both of the nare-do-wells were smiling deviously.  
    "Sire..!? How did you get onboard..???"   
    Meta Knight sounded genuinely confused, and Kirby noticed Tiff getting instantly mad about the whole thing. She put her fists up, narrowed her eyes, all that good stuff.  
    "It doesn't matter," Dedede spoke robotically and lacked his normal accent, "what matters is that you've lead us straight to the Warp Star. Bye!"   
    With nary a chuckle, the yellow-eyed Dedede and Escargoon ran off into the bridge's elevator; the thing used to get to the deck and off the ship instantly. Tiff ran after them, quick on the draw.  
    "Oh no you don't!"  
    Tiff cried, diving into the elevator with the two right as the doors closed.   
    "Tiff!"  
    Tuff shouted, going up to the elevator himself and smashing at the buttons in hoping it would respond. it didn't. Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight all watched on uselessly. Kirby looked out the bridge window, watching as multiple flying.. Well, Kirby could only describe them as flying machines. They were flat and didn't have any controls on them, and the people piloting stood on the machines like surfboards.   
    Just then, the elevator dinged back open, lacking the three people that had boarded it.   
    "Kirby! C'mon! We needa go get Tiff!"  
    Tuff said, urgent.   
    "While ya go do that, we should start plantin' bombs."  
    Sword suggested, getting a nod from Meta. The idea of someone going around and planting bombs of all things was.. Rather concerning, but Kirby guessed he'd have to deal with that whole situation at a later date.  
    Going down the elevator with Tuff was tense, and going back onto the deck even moreso. None of those people on those machines were around, and Tiff was nowhere in sight either.   
    "Where'd they go? We're floating in the middle of the hallway here, there's no way they could've jumped down there, could they?"  
    Tuff didn't dare venture close to the edge of the deck for the fear of toppling over it himself.  
    "Poyno, woosh, poyo."  
    "Wh.. Woosh??"  
    Okay, maybe Kirby didn't put it in the best terms, but whatever. Explaining stuff to people was hard. Kirby's just gonna stop explaining himself.  
    Then, with a complete lack of explanation on its side, a bright yellow star zoomed around the ship's deck, coming from further down the hall where Ma had disappeared down. It whisked itself infront of the two, hovering down so it may be stepped on.  
    "Woah, is this the Warp Star?"  
    Kirby wondered the same, and got onto it before Tuff could. It shot up, like it had a mind of it's own.  
    "Kirby! Wait for me!"  
    Nope. Woosh, poyo.   
    And woosh Kirby certainly did. He shot down the hall that Ma went, vrooming by obvious guns and laser turrets as the Warp Star and his own gut instinct told him which ways to go. This special star here sure was a quick one, it caught up to Dedede, Escargoon, Tiff, and those other machine riders really quickly.  
    "Kirby!"  
    Tiff was relieved, looking back at Kirby. Dedede held her firmly by the arm, making sure she didn't fall off the machine that she and him were riding on alongside an employee.  
    "Don't feel so relieved, he's not here to rescue you, he's here to see where I'm taking you."  
    Dedede chuckled darkly and incorrectly. To say that Kirby was here to rescue Tiff was to imply there was something dangerous going on in the first place; which there wasn't. So, no, Kirby wasn't here to recuse Tiff— that's correct— because there was nothing to rescue her from.  
    "You've basically called Kirby to us. This reunion is going to be great."  
    "Dedede, what the heck are you talking about!?"  
    Tiff shouted, punching and kicking at the big penguin king as they flew. She nearly lost her balance whilst doing so, and quickly latched onto him and steadied herself once more with a scowl.  
    "What reunion!? Answer me!"  
    "You'll see."  
    With that, the entire squadron shot off much faster than before, leaving Kirby in the dust. Kirby tightened his grip on the Warp Star and continued after them, keeping up the chase.  


* * *

  
  
    "'S a good thing we didn't have many people onboard."  
    Literally as soon as Kirby left and Tuff returned to the bridge, Meta Knight had commanded the movement forward of the Halberd, to give chase. As it turned out, the hallway forward was prepared for their arrival, and was littered with guns that shot into the Halberd like it were target practice. To make things worse, eNeMeE wasn't even there to shoot the big laser canon at, which sorta sucked.  
    What also sucked as that they had to make an emergency landing in the crevices of the hallway, where the Halberd was continuously shot until it exploded into nothingness. That was years worth of work, all down the drain. The guns were seemingly satisfied with the ship blowing up, and stopped their assault as soon as the explosion finished off its great big firework.  
    Since there were only like.. Four people onboard, it was pretty easy to evacuate and make sure everyone was safe and that as many bombs as possible were taken. But now they had no ship. Which wasn't great or part of the plan at all, so now they had to improvise.  
    "Sword, Blade, plant the bombs and meet me at the control center once you do. Tuff, follow me."  
    Meta Knight informed, then ducked around into a hall, followed by Tuff. Sword heard Blade grumble under his breath.  
    "Soroight, 'course we gotta go plantin' the bombs."  
    Blade was obviously exasperated by the fact that Meta basically lead them into a trap and then didn't go do the harder job, but whatever.  
    "Eh, just means we get a bit 'a time runnin' around and doin' cool stuff without 'em. His loss."  
    Sword pointed out, hefting his bag of bombs over his shoulder. Blade grumbled a bit more, then hefted his bag the same way. It's time the two got to work, they've got quite the amount of time bombs to set up.  


* * *

  
  
    When Kirby arrived at the outside of the command center a lot later than the people he was chasing did, he figured that nothing would be waiting for him once he got there. But Kirby was proved wrong when Ma, larger than the entire center, towered behind it. Not only was Ma there, but Tiff was in his grasp. Why Ma would wanna grab Tiff, Kirby had no clue.  
    "Kirby! There you are..!"  
    Ma sounded quite pleased when he spotted the orb on his Warp star. He could've sworn he saw Ma's grin twitch ever so slightly in the same way that a mouth twitched when it growled. It showed Ma's rotted gums, and Kirby figured he would've been better not seeing that twitch.  
    "Follow me. We have something to talk about."  
    ..Oh no, Kirby's in trouble. Kirby, albeit begrudgingly, followed Ma, staying close to his side as they did.  
    "What do you want with me? If this is an important talk between you and Kirby, why are you taking me?"  
    Tiff questioned, struggling in Ma's grasp. Kirby would never do that, it was unappreciative towards the fact that Ma was holding him. And Ma wasn't too touchy, so being held— especially like an icecream cone— would be a great honor.  
    "I'm going to show you just how useless your friendship is compared to the love Kirby has for me. Right infront of your eyes. Just really shove it in your face."  
    Ma chuckled like he was doing something devious as the three entered a large room.  It was large, rectangular, and white. Like some sort of isolation chamber. Ma dropped Tiff down on the ground, her slightly yelling from the drop before she hit the ground a foot beneath her.  
    The room suddenly shifts. No longer is it a plain box, instead it's a dark space-like area. Beneath Tiff, where the ground of the room previous was, was a gigantic chessboard. Kirby flew over to the child with a second thought nagging him not to, disembarking from the Warp Star. The star shriveled back up into it's regular form of 'being so small it can be held in your hand'.  
    Tiff picked it up immediately, holding onto it like her life depended on it.  
    "Let me get that disgusting thing off of you."  
    Ma spoke, moving his hand from his cloak. He pointed his big metallic finger down at Kirby, before it sparked and came to life. From it, a lightning bolt zapped out and struck the tracking device still around Kirby's nub. Ma hit it dead on the rectangular part of it, causing the machine to short-circuit and release from Kirby, dropping uselessly to the floor.  
    Kirby smiled and wiggled his nub around freely, poyoing happily.  
    "I don't know what your game is, eNeMeE, but I know that-"  
    "That what? Kirby will pick you over me? Spare me the humor!"  
    Ma laughed anyways, withdrawing his hand back into his cape, looking quite smug.  
    "Well, lets test that, hm? Kirby. If you'd like to stay with me, approach me. If you'd like to stay with her, don't move."  
    Kirby didn't hesitate. He dashed towards Ma, leaving Tiff to eat his dust. Did anyone expect anything else to happen? There was nothing that happened on his time at Cappytown that was worth throwing away the love of his great big blanket for. Not to mention the whole literal tracking device thing certainly didn't help Tiff's chances.  
    "Kirby.."  
    Kirby heard Tiff's sad statement of denial as he continued on over. Kirby's not going to be guilttripped this time, no-siree. None of that garbage anymore, Kirby's sticking with Ma.   
    "There's your answer, kid. Your little 'Star Warrior' still chose me over you, even though he spent longer on your sad little planet. How does that feel?"  
    Kirby couldn't see it since he was busy, but Tiff was looking down at the Warp Star with a (most likely) devious plan being concocted. Tiff caught up the pink puff, tackled him, then put the Star Rod in Kirby's mouth and forcibly closed it.  
    "What the- you disgusting creature! How dare you assault him!"  
    Ma's explosion of rage caused Kirby to flinch He'd heard Ma mad before, and he knew it wasn't at him, but it was still scary. Scary enough to make him cringe and swallow the Warp Star accidentally.  
    The sudden power was overwhelming. The cosmos themselves shifted into bright ribbons of red, wrapping around a congregation of pure white light and giving it feasible, touchable shape. A short rod, which, at the end, was a bright shining yellow star.  
    Ma recoiled and hissed, holding the sides of his head like the sight of this object was giving him a migraine. Tiff took note and immediately snatched the Star Rod from Kirby's nub. The power of the weapon sparked around her, and her hair flowed ethereally and wildly as it caused her to even float.   
    Kirby poyoed in shock and confusion, and before he knew what was going on, Tiff swung the rod in a circular motion, yellow stars following behind it. Like it was some sort of charging attack, the stars crackled with light and energy inside of their circle. Before Kirby had a chance to shove Tiff from her attack, Tiff swung the Star Rod once more, causing an entire barrage to shoot out from the circle's center.  
    The twinkling attacks wrapped around Ma's form like a tornado, trapping him as howled in agony. Head tossed upward, Ma screamed and screamed. Screamed so horribly that Tiff cringed.  
    Ma body glew, then flashed white, so white that it was all Kirby could see. When Kirby blinked, all the white was gone, and Ma's looming figure was slightly bent forward, wheezing and gasping with pain.  
    Shocked and dazed tears formed as Kirby squabbled up and towards his big blanket parent. He was obviously injured, and Ma never ever ever got injured. Ever. Seeing him like this, in pain, it was too much for him. Kirby thought back to Meta Knight's explanation; that the Star Rod was the only thing that could defeat Ma. Surely that wasn't true, right?  
    Ma was going to be fine? Right??  
    "M-Ma, poy? Poy? Ma??"  
    Kirby cried, getting increasingly more distressed as he watched cyan sparks dance along Ma's form. Kirby's noises became even more desperate when Ma didn't respond. Tiff ripped the star off the Star Rod and its velocity from the rip caused it to fling off. Tiff grabbed Kirby's nub, tears pricking at her own eyes for god knows what reason.   
    Ma began to scream once again, in agony once more. Light sparked at the edge of his cape and ate its way upwards towards his face. Kirby and Tiff watched it. Listened as Ma's voice twisted and distorted, watched as he became less and less as the seconds passed. Watched how he spasmed in fatal suffering. But apparently Tiff couldn't bare to watch and listen to it all, and began to pull Kirby so hard that Kirby's feet gave out from underneath him.  
    It was like pulling a balloon around, since Kirby was so light.  
    Kirby struggled against Tiff's pull, now sobbing as he listened to Ma continue to screech from all consuming death. By the time Tiff had gotten to the Warp Star, managed to get it to become large and get up, Ma's voice had cut out. He was gone. The chessboard disappeared, and the space-like background did as well. It was an empty room that three people had entered and two left.  
    Tiff managed to maneuver the Warp Star whilst holding onto Kirby with one hand behind her.   
    "MA!!" he hollered and kicked, "MA!! POYNO!! MA!!"   
    His tears flew off of his face in bunches, he was like an extremely leaky faucet. Yet, Kirby's screams did not deter Tiff, even as she let out mournful noises of her own— not that Kirby thought they were sincere. Instead, she flew the Warp Star, against Kirby's wishes, all the way back to the command center, bursting in through it with a screaming toddler in tow.  
    As she crashed through into the command center, she was flung off the Warp Star and onto the floor, taking Kirby with her. The star itself returned to its small state once more.  
    "POYNO!!!"  
    Kirby was still leaking from the eyes and exploding from the vocal cords, and this did not help not startle the other people in the room.  
    "W-What's going on here??"  
    See, in all his midget glory, who seemed to be in the middle of running from Dedede's hammer, took that moment to question what was going on. That was one moment too much, and Dedede conked him firmly over the head. Instantly unconscious (or worse), See collapsed onto the terminal, hitting a bunch of dangerous looking buttons before he slid onto the floor. Dedede put a foot over him like a hunter would on their fresh catch.  
    This did not help Kirby's distress any more, and Kirby's screeches grew even higher in volume and pitch to the point where everyone in the room had to cover their ears.   
    After but a second or two into his high-pitched shriek, Blade, Sword, Meta Knight, and Tuff all arrived in the command center as well, all already covering their ears. Only when Dedede came over and forcibly shut Kirby's mouth with his hands did everyone breath a sigh of relief.  
    "This place's 'bout to blow, we 'ave to get the transporter up an' running!"  
    Sword informed, rushing over to the terminals, jumping over See's unconscious body to get to them. Blade rushed to assist, whilst everyone else crowded around Kirby in an attempt to get the orb to calm down. Well, except for Tiff.  
    "Maybe I-I shouldn't have..?"  
    Tiff questioned to no one inparticular, crocodile tears streaming down her face. After another horrible second, the transporter in the middle of the room fired up, sparking and loud. Kirby struggled more, thinking of leaving See.  
    "Go! Go go go!"  
    Sword leaped over See and into the light of the transporter, followed by Blade and then by Escargoon. Dedede dropped Kirby and leaped in after, which allowed Kirby to squabble and rush over to See's unconscious body to hug him.  
    "See?? See?! Poy-" Kirby felt Tiff's hand grab him and Kirby didn't even hesitate to inhale her then spit her into the transporter, "Poy-yyy.. Poyn-no, poyno! Poyno!! M-Ma, See, poyy!!"  
    Kirby sobbed, hugging tightly. Kirby quivered and was grabbed again. A mitten this time. Kirby, racked with tears, couldn't fight it as he was chucked into the transporter's light, followed by Tuff. He was whisked away by the machine's light and softer noises, being teleported away from the fortress.   
    A tunnel of cybernetic blues is the sight Kirby was greeted with. One which pained Kirby to look at because he knew what it meant. It took two seconds before Meta Knight joined the tunnel, See firmly in his hands, still unconscious.  
    Kirby watched as the 'hole' where he'd come from disappeared. No way to go back.  
    It'd been destroyed.  
    If Kirby wasn't in agony before, he certainly was now. The past.. What, three minutes? The past three minutes had been so overwhelming and devastating towards everything Kirby had ever known. The fortress was gone, Ma was gone, and had Kirby not made such a big fit about it, See would've been gone as well. Now Kirby only had one good thing in the whole world, and that fact overwhelmed him.  
    The trip back to the castle was short. Everyone toppled out of the teleportation machine like a bunch of balls falling out of a bag with a hole in it. See was the last to fall out, landing ontop of Dedede wordlessly. Kirby had rolled onto the floor and stayed there, face down and violently trembling.  
    Through his pain, his agony, he was destitute. More miserable than anything had ever made him before.


End file.
